Smith v. Sanyo Corporation
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-10516
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Judge McMahon dismissed Smith v. Sanyo Corporation without prejudice because Smith sought fee-free filing without required court permission.
Charmane Smith's case was dismissed without prejudice because she did not obtain the required permission before filing a new case while seeking to proceed without paying filing fees. Sanyo Corporation was the defendant.
What happened
In Smith v. Sanyo Corporation, Charmane Smith filed a new case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying filing fees.
A 2016 court order required Smith to obtain permission before filing any new case under that procedure. Smith had not requested that permission.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the case without prejudice for violating the earlier order and denied fee-free status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Smith v. Sanyo Corporation · No. 1:19-cv-10516
- Colleen McMahon
- Jan. 17, 2020
Background
Charmane Smith filed this new case without a lawyer and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees, a status commonly called proceeding in forma pauperis. The opinion states that, on December 2, 2016, Smith had been barred from filing any new case under that procedure unless she first obtained permission from the court.
Reason for dismissal
Smith had not requested the required permission before filing this action. The court therefore dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 for failure to comply with the December 2, 2016 order. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims against Sanyo Corporation.
Other ruling
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Smith and record service on the docket. The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.