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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Dec. 4, 2019

Clarke v. Knadler

Judge
Colleen McMahon
Docket
1:19-cv-07823
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Clarke v. Knadler, Judge McMahon dismissed the complaint after Clarke failed to file an amended complaint or update his address.

Who this affects

David L. Clarke's complaint was dismissed after he failed to comply with the order requiring an amended complaint. The court also denied him permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.

What happened

In Clarke v. Knadler, the court had ordered David L. Clarke to file an amended complaint within 60 days and warned that failing to do so would lead to dismissal.

The order was mailed to Clarke but returned as undeliverable. Clarke did not file the amended complaint, update his address, or communicate with the court.

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the complaint under the federal statute governing cases filed without paying court fees. She also denied Clarke permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Clarke v. Knadler · No. 1:19-cv-07823
Judge
Colleen McMahon
Date
Dec. 4, 2019

Background

On September 24, 2019, the court ordered Plaintiff David L. Clarke to file an amended complaint within 60 days. The court warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal. A copy of that order was mailed to Clarke, but the mail was returned as undeliverable on October 15, 2019.

The opinion states that Clarke did not file an amended complaint, did not update his address, and did not communicate with the court. His complaint had been filed without paying the filing fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1).

Ruling

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). The opinion does not address the underlying claims on their merits. The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail Clarke a copy of the order and record service on the docket.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied Clarke permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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