Seals v. Dominique Side Hawkins
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07472
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Tina Seals v. Dominique Side Hawkins, Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because Seals did not obtain required permission to proceed without fees.
Tina Seals's newly filed civil action was dismissed without prejudice; the opinion did not decide the underlying claims against Dominique Side Hawkins.
What happened
Tina Seals filed a new civil action against Dominique Side Hawkins in the Southern District of New York. The opinion says Seals was representing herself and did not pay the filing fees or submit an application to proceed without paying them.
The court had previously barred Seals from filing future civil actions without paying fees unless she first obtained the court’s permission. Because she did not seek that permission for this case, the court dismissed the action without prejudice.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the action. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Seals v. Dominique Side Hawkins · No. 1:25-cv-07472
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 22, 2025
Background
Tina Seals filed this civil action against Dominique Side Hawkins, Practice Physician. Seals was representing herself. She did not pay the fees required to bring the action and did not file an application to proceed without paying those fees.
In a prior related proceeding in this court, the court ordered that Seals could not file future civil actions without paying the filing fees unless she first obtained permission from the court. The opinion states that Seals did not seek that permission before filing this action.
Ruling
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed this action without prejudice because Seals failed to comply with the earlier court order. The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter a judgment dismissing the action for that reason.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. The opinion did not decide the underlying claims against Dominique Side Hawkins.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.