Rodgers v. City of Yonkers
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:19-cv-05358
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Rodgers v. City of Yonkers, Judge Briccetti deemed Westchester County’s motion unopposed and denied appeal fee-waiver status.
Prince Rodgers and Westchester County; the order also affects Rodgers’s ability to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal from this order.
What happened
Prince Rodgers, representing himself, brought a civil-rights case against the City of Yonkers, two detectives, and Westchester County. Westchester County moved to dismiss the complaint and served Rodgers with the motion papers.
Rodgers did not file an opposition or a timely request for more time. The court twice extended his deadline, but he still did not respond, so the court treated the motion as fully submitted and unopposed.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti also ruled that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Rodgers permission to proceed without paying fees for that appeal. The order did not decide Westchester County’s motion to dismiss.
The detailed version
- Rodgers v. City of Yonkers · No. 7:19-cv-05358
- Vincent Briccetti
- Nov. 25, 2019
Background
Prince Rodgers, proceeding without a lawyer and without paying filing fees, brought a civil-rights action against the City of Yonkers; Detectives Michelle Picioulli and Neal Cromwell, in their individual and official capacities; and Westchester County.
On August 15, 2019, Westchester County moved to dismiss the complaint and served Rodgers by regular mail with the motion and supporting papers. After Rodgers notified the court of a new address, the Clerk mailed another copy of those materials to him at that address on August 20, 2019.
Rodgers’s Failure to Respond
Rodgers did not timely oppose the motion or request an extension. On September 17, 2019, the court extended his deadline to October 17, 2019. After receiving an undated letter requesting more time, the court extended the deadline again, to November 18, 2019. Rodgers still did not file an opposition.
Order
The court deemed Westchester County’s motion fully submitted and unopposed. The opinion does not state that the court granted or denied the motion to dismiss, and it does not decide the underlying civil-rights claims.
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 Rodgers permission to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal from this order. The Clerk was directed to mail Rodgers a copy of the order at the address on the docket.
Judge
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti signed the order on November 25, 2019, in White Plains, New York.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.