Smith v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04973
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Emres M. Smith v. Doe: Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Smith neither filed required forms nor paid filing fees.
Emres M. Smith, whose complaint was dismissed without prejudice and whose permission to appeal without paying fees was denied.
What happened
In Emres M. Smith v. Doe, the court had ordered Smith to submit a request to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the required $405 in filing fees within thirty days. The Clerk’s Office resent that order to Smith’s new address.
Smith did not submit the required request and prisoner authorization or pay the fees. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. She directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Smith v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-04973
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 22, 2025
Background
The court had previously directed Emres M. Smith, within thirty days, either to submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees and the required prisoner authorization or to pay the $405 in fees required to file a civil action. The court warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal. The Clerk’s Office later resent that order to Smith’s new address.
Court’s ruling
Smith did not submit the application and prisoner authorization or pay the filing fees. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
Classification
This is a procedural order. The court dismissed the case because Smith did not satisfy the filing-fee or fee-waiver requirements; it did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.