Christenson v. Sekulow
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-11551
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Christenson v. Sekulow, Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Christenson did not obtain permission to proceed without paying fees.
The order dismissed Mark C. Christenson’s action without prejudice and denied him permission to appeal without paying fees. It did not decide the underlying dispute involving John Sekulow.
What happened
Christenson v. Sekulow involved Mark C. Christenson’s attempt to bring a civil action without paying filing fees. A prior court order required him to obtain permission before filing any new action without paying those fees.
Christenson had not paid the filing fees or asked for permission to proceed without paying them. The court therefore dismissed the action without prejudice for violating the earlier order.
Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to mail Christenson the order and record service. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Christenson v. Sekulow · No. 1:19-cv-11551
- Colleen McMahon
- Jan. 3, 2020
Background
On June 20, 2018, the court had barred Mark C. Christenson from filing a new civil action in the Southern District of New York without paying filing fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission. The opinion refers to that earlier order in a related proceeding.
Christenson had not paid the filing fees for this action and had not filed an application to proceed without paying them, a status commonly called proceeding in forma pauperis (IFP). Because he had not paid the fees, the court treated the action as one in which he sought IFP status.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice because Christenson had not obtained the required permission to proceed IFP under the earlier order. The dismissal was issued under 28 U.S.C. § 1651. The opinion does not address the underlying dispute between Christenson and John Sekulow.
Other Orders
The court directed the Clerk of Court to assign the matter to Judge McMahon’s docket, mail a copy of the order to Christenson, and note service on the docket. Judge McMahon also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.