Shire v. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-06943
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Shire v. Roberts, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Shire neither paid filing fees nor submitted an application to proceed without paying them.
Justin E. Shire’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not pay the filing fee or submit the required application. The order also affects any future filings he may make in this district by warning that a filing injunction could be imposed.
What happened
In Justin E. Shire v. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., et al., the court had ordered Justin E. Shire to submit an application to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the required $405 filing fee within 30 days.
Shire did neither. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling. The court also noted that Shire and co-plaintiffs had previously filed approximately 12 federal lawsuits that were dismissed for substantive or procedural deficiencies.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain warned that continued frivolous or malicious litigation could lead to a filing injunction in this district. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the Clerk to enter judgment dismissing the case.
The detailed version
- Shire v. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. · No. 1:25-cv-06943
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 18, 2025
Background
On September 24, 2025, the Court ordered Plaintiff Justin E. Shire to either submit an application to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the $405 required fee for filing a civil action. The order gave him 30 days and stated that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
Court’s Action
Shire did not submit the application or pay the filing fee. The Court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The Court did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
The Court also stated that a search of the federal court filing system showed that Shire and co-plaintiffs had previously filed approximately 12 civil actions around the country, all dismissed for substantive or procedural deficiencies. The Court had previously warned Shire and the co-plaintiffs that continued frivolous or malicious litigation could lead to an order barring future filings without paying fees unless they first received permission. The Court repeated that the warning remained in effect and cautioned that it could impose a filing injunction if Shire continued such litigation in this district. The Court did not impose that injunction in this order.
Conclusion
The complaint was dismissed without prejudice. The Court certified that any 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 dismissing the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.