Laurence v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-00072
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Laurence v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice after Laurence neither submitted required filing documents nor paid fees.
Thomas Barret Laurence’s action against the Federal Bureau of Prisons was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required filing documents or pay the filing fees.
What happened
In Laurence v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, the court had ordered Laurence to submit a completed request to proceed without paying the filing fee and a prisoner authorization, or to pay the $400 filing fees.
Laurence did not submit those documents or pay the fees within the required thirty days. The court’s order had warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
The court dismissed the action without prejudice, meaning it was not permanently barred from being brought again on that basis. Judge Colleen McMahon also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Laurence permission to appeal without paying the required fees.
The detailed version
- Laurence v. Federal Bureau of Prisons · No. 1:20-cv-00072
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 26, 2020
Background
On January 8, 2020, the court ordered Thomas Barret Laurence, within thirty days, either to submit a completed request to proceed without prepaying the filing fee and a prisoner authorization or to pay the $400 fees required to file a civil action. The order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
Court’s ruling
Laurence did not submit the required request and prisoner authorization and did not pay the fees. The court therefore dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The opinion does not address the underlying claims against the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It consequently denied Laurence permission to appeal without prepaying the required fees. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Laurence and record service on the docket.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.