Brown v. National Basketball Association
- Gregory Woods
- 1:19-cv-06434
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Brown v. NBA, Judge Woods said no case remained to transfer after dismissal and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
Kimberly Bernice Brown, the National Basketball Association, and Tamera Young. The order addressed Brown’s request to transfer the already-dismissed case and her ability to appeal without paying filing fees.
What happened
Brown v. National Basketball Association concerned Kimberly Bernice Brown’s request that the court confirm a transfer of her case to New Jersey. She said she had previously spoken with a court clerk and that she was requesting the transfer to New Jersey, where she said she resided.
The court explained that it had dismissed the case on December 30, 2019, and that judgment was entered on January 2, 2020. The court also said Brown’s request for more time to appeal was denied and that the judgment became final. Because no case remained, the court said there was nothing to transfer.
Judge Gregory H. Woods also directed Brown to communicate through the Pro Se Intake Unit rather than chambers email. He determined that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied her permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
The detailed version
- Brown v. National Basketball Association · No. 1:19-cv-06434
- Gregory Woods
- May 12, 2020
Background
On May 11, 2020, the court received an email from Kimberly Bernice Brown. She asked the court to confirm the transfer of her case to New Jersey. In the email, Brown said that a chamber clerk had previously told her that her venue-transfer request would be handled. She also said that she was requesting transfer to New Jersey, where she resided.
Earlier case history
The court stated that it had dismissed the case by order dated December 30, 2019, and that judgment was entered on January 2, 2020. Brown later asked for an extension of time to appeal, but the court denied that request on January 23, 2020. The court stated that, to its knowledge, Brown never appealed and that the judgment had become final.
Ruling and instructions
The court said that, because the case had been dismissed and final judgment had been entered, no case remained before it. It therefore stated that there was no case to transfer. The court also said it had not received a written request to transfer the case and that it does not communicate privately with litigants outside the ordinary court process. The court directed Brown not to email chambers and told her to send communications to the Pro Se Intake Unit. It noted that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, self-represented parties could file by email at the address listed on the court’s website.
Judge Gregory H. Woods certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. Based on that certification, the court denied Brown permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The clerk was directed to mail the order to Brown and the defendants by first-class and certified mail and record service on the docket.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.