Blanco v. Blige
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05437
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Blanco v. Blige, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice after Blanco neither paid filing fees nor submitted the required application.
Carlita Blanco's case was dismissed without prejudice because she did not submit the required amended fee-waiver application or pay the $405 filing fee; permission to appeal without paying fees was also denied.
What happened
In Blanco v. Blige, the court had ordered Plaintiff Carlita Blanco to submit an amended application to proceed without paying filing fees or to pay the $405 filing fee within 30 days.
Blanco did neither. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling, and directed the clerk to enter judgment.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Blanco v. Blige · No. 1:25-cv-05437
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 25, 2025
Background
By an order dated July 9, 2025, the court directed Plaintiff Carlita Blanco to do one of two things within 30 days: submit an amended application to proceed without paying filing fees, or pay the $405 required fee for filing a civil action. The court warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.
Blanco did not submit an amended application or pay the fee. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims against Defendant Mary J. Blige 1983.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. It also directed the clerk to enter judgment. In addition, the court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
Effect
The opinion does not bar Blanco from refiling the complaint because the dismissal was without prejudice. It does not address the merits of the underlying claims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.