Emerson v. NYCHA
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-01552
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Emerson v. NYCHA, Judge McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice after plaintiffs failed to pay fees or submit adequate applications.
Tracey Emerson and Dennis M. Carter, who were representing themselves and whose complaint was dismissed without prejudice after they did not pay the filing fees or submit adequate amended applications.
What happened
In Emerson v. NYCHA, Tracey Emerson and Dennis M. Carter filed a complaint without paying the filing fees or submitting applications to proceed without paying them. They were representing themselves.
The court gave both plaintiffs time to pay the required fees or submit applications. After finding their applications insufficient, the court gave them another thirty days to submit amended applications or pay the fees.
The plaintiffs did neither, so Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice. She also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied the plaintiffs permission to proceed without paying appeal fees.
The detailed version
- Emerson v. NYCHA · No. 1:20-cv-01552
- Colleen McMahon
- Apr. 27, 2020
Background
Tracey Emerson and Dennis M. Carter filed a complaint without paying the required filing fees or submitting applications to proceed without paying those fees. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
Procedural History
The court first directed the plaintiffs to pay $400.00 in fees or for each plaintiff to complete, sign, and submit an application to proceed without paying the fees. Emerson and Carter each submitted an application, but the court found that the applications did not sufficiently show that they were unable to pay. The court then ordered them to submit amended applications within thirty days or pay the $400.00 filing fee. The order warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal.
Ruling
The plaintiffs did not submit amended applications or pay the filing fees. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to the plaintiffs and record service on the docket.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.