Christenson v. Smith
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-01832
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Christenson v. Smith, Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Christenson neither obtained required filing permission nor paid the fees.
Mark C. Christenson's action was dismissed without prejudice, and he was denied permission to appeal without paying the required fees. The opinion does not describe any ruling on Richard Smith's liability.
What happened
In Christenson v. Smith, Mark C. Christenson filed a new civil case without a lawyer. A prior court order barred him from filing new civil cases without paying the fees or first obtaining permission to proceed without paying them.
The court assumed that Christenson wanted to proceed without paying the filing fees. But he did not ask for the required permission, and he did not pay the fees. The opinion does not address the underlying claims against Richard Smith.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Christenson failed to follow the earlier order. The court also found that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Christenson permission to appeal without paying the required fees.
The detailed version
- Christenson v. Smith · No. 1:20-cv-01832
- Colleen McMahon
- Mar. 9, 2020
Background
Mark C. Christenson filed this civil action without a lawyer. In a prior related proceeding, the court had barred him from filing any new civil action without paying the filing fees or first obtaining the court's permission to proceed without paying them. The opinion states that this earlier order was dated June 20, 2018.
Christenson's new filing did not request permission to proceed without paying the fees, and he did not pay the relevant fees. The court assumed, for purposes of this order, that he sought to proceed without paying them.
Ruling
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 because Christenson failed to comply with the June 20, 2018 order. “Without prejudice” means the dismissal did not itself bar a later filing, although the opinion does not specify what steps would be required for another filing.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail Christenson a copy of the order and record service on the docket. It also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the required fees. The court did not decide the merits of Christenson's claims against Richard Smith.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.