Mott v. Thomas James Schell
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05450
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Mott v. Schell: Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Mott neither paid filing fees nor submitted an application to proceed without paying.
Ricky Mott's complaint was dismissed without prejudice after he did not submit the required application to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the filing fee. The opinion does not describe any ruling on the underlying claims against Thomas James Schell.
What happened
In Ricky Mott v. Thomas James Schell, the court had ordered Ricky Mott to submit an application to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the required $405 filing fee.
Mott did neither within the required thirty days, even though the earlier order warned that the complaint would be dismissed if he failed to comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice, denied permission to appeal without paying fees, and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Mott v. Thomas James Schell · No. 1:25-cv-05450
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 7, 2025
Background
By an order dated July 9, 2025, the court directed Ricky Mott to either submit a completed application to proceed without paying the filing fee or pay the $405 required to file a civil action. The order gave Mott thirty days to comply and warned that failure to do so would result in dismissal of the complaint.
Court’s Ruling
The court found that Mott had neither submitted the application nor paid the filing fee. It therefore 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. Finally, the court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.