Butler v. John/Jane Doe
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-11274
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Butler v. John/Jane Doe, Chief Judge McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice after Butler failed to pay filing fees or submit required forms.
Kenneth Butler's complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he neither submitted the required forms nor paid the filing fees. The court also denied permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for an appeal.
What happened
In Kenneth Butler v. John/Jane Doe, the court had ordered Butler to either submit an application to proceed without paying the filing fee and a prisoner authorization form, or pay the required filing fees.
Butler did not submit the forms or pay the fees by the deadline. The court had warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice. She also ruled that Butler could not proceed without paying filing fees on an appeal because an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Butler v. John/Jane Doe · No. 1:19-cv-11274
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 11, 2020
Background
The court had previously ordered Kenneth Butler to submit a completed application to proceed without paying the filing fee and a prisoner authorization form within 30 days, or to pay the $400 in fees required to file a civil action. The earlier order warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.
What the Court Did
Butler did not submit the application and authorization form, and he did not pay the filing fees. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice. This means the dismissal did not bar refiling, although the opinion does not describe any future filing requirements beyond citing the applicable statutes.
Appeal-Filing-Fee Ruling
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 Butler permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for an appeal.
Disposition
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice and denied permission to proceed without paying the filing fee on appeal.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.