Calvino v. Wongenbernd
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-00777
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Calvino v. Wongenbernd, Chief Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Calvino filed without required permission.
Ernest Calvino Jr.’s ability to proceed in this case without paying filing fees and to appeal without paying filing fees; the opinion did not adjudicate the claims against the defendants.
What happened
In Calvino v. Wongenbernd, Ernest Calvino Jr. filed a new case without a lawyer on January 28, 2020, and asked to proceed without paying filing fees.
Before that filing, the court had barred Calvino from filing new cases without paying filing fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission. Calvino did not seek that permission for this case.
Chief Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Calvino failed to comply with the earlier order. She also ruled that Calvino could not proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal because an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Calvino v. Wongenbernd · No. 1:20-cv-00777
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 14, 2020
Background
Ernest Calvino Jr. filed this new case on January 28, 2020, and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The opinion identifies him as representing himself.
In a prior related proceeding, the court ordered Calvino to explain why he should not be barred from filing additional cases without paying filing fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission. Calvino did not respond. On February 11, 2020, the court imposed that bar, effective January 10, 2020.
Ruling
Because Calvino filed this case without first seeking permission, the court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to comply with the February 11 order. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims against Dave Wongenbernd or Daniel Marc Wongenbernd.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal. The Clerk was directed to mail the order to Calvino and record service on the docket.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.