Allen v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07693
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Darzell Allen v. John Doe, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Allen neither paid filing fees nor submitted required forms.
Darzell Allen’s complaint against John Doe was dismissed without prejudice because Allen did not pay the filing fee or submit the required forms. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
What happened
In Darzell Allen v. John Doe, the court had ordered Allen to either pay the required filing fees or submit forms requesting permission to proceed without paying them.
Allen did not submit the required forms or pay the fees by the deadline set by the court. The opinion does not address the substance of his claims against John Doe.
Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning it was not permanently barred on this ground. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees and directed the clerk to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Allen v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-07693
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 25, 2025
Background
The court had previously ordered Darzell Allen to submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees, along with a required prisoner authorization, or to pay the $405 filing fee for a civil action. The order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
Ruling
Allen did not submit the application and authorization and did not pay the filing fee. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The dismissal was based on the filing-fee and paperwork requirements; the opinion did not decide the merits of Allen’s claims against John Doe.
The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Allen permission to appeal without paying fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the clerk to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.