Christian v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-01946
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Ferris A. Christian v. John Doe, Judge Swain entered judgment dismissing the action, denied a conference motion as moot, and denied appeal fee-waiver status.
The order affects Ferris A. Christian’s action, his preliminary-conference motion, and his ability to appeal without paying the required costs. The named defendants are John Doe, P.K. S-2 Realty LLC, and Mayer Esq. Referee Joel.
What happened
In Ferris A. Christian v. John Doe, the court had already dismissed Ferris A. Christian’s complaint and allowed 30 days to file an amended complaint. Christian instead filed a motion requesting a preliminary conference and did not file an amended complaint.
The court directed the Clerk to enter judgment dismissing the action for the reasons stated in the earlier dismissal order. It denied Christian’s preliminary-conference motion as moot, meaning the court found no need to decide it after dismissing the action. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on August 27, 2025, and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Christian v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-01946
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 27, 2025
Background
Ferris A. Christian brought the action without a lawyer. On June 20, 2025, the court dismissed the complaint and gave him 30 days to file an amended complaint. On June 25, 2025, Christian filed a motion requesting a “preliminary conference.” The opinion states that he did not file an amended complaint.
Rulings
The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the action for the reasons stated in the June 20 dismissal order. This opinion does not repeat those reasons.
The court denied Christian’s motion at ECF 14 as moot and directed the Clerk to terminate that motion. “Moot” means that the court considered the motion no longer in need of a decision because of what happened in the case.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied Christian permission to proceed without paying the required costs for an appeal.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.