Bolden v. Rikers Island DOC
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07073
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Marshall Bolden v. Rikers Island DOC, Chief Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Bolden neither submitted required forms nor paid the filing fees.
Marshall Bolden’s civil complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required forms or pay the filing fees. The order also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal.
What happened
In Marshall Bolden v. Rikers Island DOC and Bob Barker Company Inc., the court required Marshall Bolden to submit paperwork allowing him to proceed without paying the filing fee or to pay the fees for filing a civil case.
The court had given Bolden thirty days to submit a request to proceed without paying the filing fee and a required prisoner authorization, or to pay $405. Bolden did none of those things.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice and directed the clerk to enter judgment. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Bolden v. Rikers Island DOC · No. 1:25-cv-07073
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 13, 2025
Background
By an order dated September 8, 2025, the court directed Marshall Bolden, within thirty days, either to submit a completed application to proceed without paying the filing fee and a prisoner authorization or to pay the $405 required to file a civil action. The order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.
Court’s ruling
Bolden did not submit the application and prisoner authorization and did not pay the filing fees. Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. “Without prejudice” means the order did not state that the complaint could never be filed again, although the opinion does not specify any conditions for refiling.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. The court also directed the clerk to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.