Court, Explained
U.S. Federal District Courts
←Back to docket
S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Dec. 18, 2019

Christenson v. Donnelson

Judge
Colleen McMahon
Docket
1:19-cv-11553
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Christenson v. Donnelson, Judge McMahon dismissed Christenson’s case without prejudice because he filed without paying after an earlier filing restriction.

Who this affects

Mark C. Christenson, whose case was dismissed without prejudice for failing to comply with an earlier order requiring court permission before filing without prepaying the filing fee.

What happened

Christenson v. Donnelson involved Mark C. Christenson’s new case in which he represented himself and did not prepay the filing fee.

An earlier court order barred Christenson from filing any new case without paying the fee unless the court first gave him permission to proceed without payment. The opinion says he filed this case without that permission.

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the case without prejudice for violating the earlier order. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.

The detailed version

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

Case
Christenson v. Donnelson · No. 1:19-cv-11553
Judge
Colleen McMahon
Date
Dec. 18, 2019

Background

Mark C. Christenson filed this new case without prepaying the filing fee and represented himself. The opinion states that, in an earlier June 20, 2018 order, the court barred him from filing any new action without prepayment unless he first obtained the court’s permission to proceed without paying the fee.

Court’s analysis

The court determined that Christenson could not proceed without paying the filing fee because he had not obtained the required permission. It therefore dismissed the action for failing to comply with the June 20, 2018 order. The order was issued under 28 U.S.C. § 1651.

Ruling

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying 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 →
Summary written with AI assistance. See how summaries are made. Spot something wrong? Tell us.