Christenson v. Smith
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-01830
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Christenson v. Smith, Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Christenson filed without required permission.
Mark C. Christenson's action was dismissed without prejudice because he did not obtain the required permission before filing.
What happened
In Christenson v. Smith, Mark C. Christenson filed a new lawsuit without a lawyer and without prepaying the filing fee. A prior court order had barred him from filing new fee-free lawsuits unless the court first gave permission.
Christenson had not requested or received that permission before filing this case. The court therefore dismissed the action without reaching its underlying claims.
Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the case without prejudice for failure to comply with the earlier order. She also ruled that Christenson could not appeal without prepaying the appeal filing fee because any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Christenson v. Smith · No. 1:20-cv-01830
- Colleen McMahon
- Mar. 3, 2020
Background
Mark C. Christenson filed this action without a lawyer and without prepaying the filing fees. In a prior related proceeding, the court had barred him from filing any new action without prepaying fees unless he first obtained the court's permission.
Reason for dismissal
Christenson had not requested or received permission to file this action. The court dismissed the case under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 because he failed to comply with the earlier filing restriction. The opinion does not address the underlying claims.
Disposition
Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice. The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail Christenson a copy of the order and record service on the docket. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Christenson permission to appeal without prepaying the appeal filing fee.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.