Christenson v. Smith
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-01829
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Christenson v. Smith, Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Christenson did not obtain required filing permission.
Mark C. Christenson, whose action against Natalie Smith was dismissed without prejudice for failing to obtain required permission or pay the filing fees.
What happened
In Christenson v. Smith, Mark C. Christenson filed a new case without a lawyer. A 2018 court order had barred him from filing new civil actions without paying fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission to proceed without paying them.
The court assumed that Christenson wanted to proceed without paying the filing fees. He did not ask for the required permission, and he did not pay the fees.
Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Christenson failed to follow the 2018 order. The court also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the appellate filing fee.
The detailed version
- Christenson v. Smith · No. 1:20-cv-01829
- Colleen McMahon
- Mar. 3, 2020
Background
Mark C. Christenson filed this civil action against Natalie Smith without a lawyer. The opinion states that, in a June 20, 2018 order, the court barred Christenson from filing any new civil action without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained the court’s permission to proceed without paying it.
In this case, Christenson did not ask for that permission and did not pay the relevant filing fees. The court assumed, for purposes of this order, that he sought to proceed without paying the fees.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice because Christenson failed to comply with the June 20, 2018 order. “Without prejudice” means the dismissal did not itself bar refiling, although the opinion does not address what requirements would apply to any later filing.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Christenson a copy of the order and record service on the docket.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.