Rivera v. Merritt
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-07882
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Rivera v. Merritt: Judge Swain dismissed the complaint after Rivera failed to file the required amended complaint.
Rebeca M. Rivera's complaint was dismissed, and her permission to appeal without paying the filing fee was denied.
What happened
In Rebeca M. Rivera v. Alenna Merritt, the court had ordered Rivera to file an amended complaint within 60 days and warned that failing to do so would lead to dismissal.
Rivera did not file an amended complaint by the deadline. The court therefore dismissed the complaint under the federal statute governing complaints filed without paying the filing fee.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith, denied Rivera permission to proceed without paying the appeal filing fee, and directed the Clerk of Court to enter a civil judgment.
The detailed version
- Rivera v. Merritt · No. 1:24-cv-07882
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 24, 2025
Background
On August 11, 2025, the court ordered Plaintiff Rebeca M. Rivera to file an amended complaint within 60 days. The order warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal. Rivera had filed the complaint without paying the filing fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1).
Ruling
Because Rivera did not file an amended complaint, the court dismissed the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). The opinion does not explain the underlying claims or address their merits.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for an appeal and directed the Clerk of Court to enter a civil judgment.
Disposition
The complaint was dismissed. The court also denied fee-free status for an appeal and directed entry of a civil judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.