Trail v. New York City Dept. of Corrections
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:20-cv-03793
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Lee Trail v. City of New York, Judge Schofield dismissed the case without prejudice after the pro se plaintiff missed deadlines to pay fees or submit authorization.
Lee Trail's case was dismissed without prejudice for failing to pay the filing fees or submit the required prisoner authorization by the court's deadline.
What happened
In Lee Trail v. City of New York, the court had previously told the pro se plaintiff to either pay the filing fees or submit a required prisoner authorization.
The deadline was June 17, 2020. The plaintiff did not pay the fees, submit the authorization, or otherwise communicate with the court. The court also noted that records indicated he had been released on June 9 and that he had not provided an updated address.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning the plaintiff was allowed to ask to restore it by July 20, 2020. The court canceled all pending deadlines, denied fee-free status for an appeal, and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
The detailed version
- Trail v. New York City Dept. of Corrections · No. 1:20-cv-03793
- Lorna Schofield
- June 19, 2020
Background
The court's earlier order explained that pro se Plaintiff Lee Trail had submitted an application to proceed without paying the filing fee but had not submitted a prisoner authorization. The court directed him to either pay the filing fees or complete and submit the authorization within thirty days, by June 17, 2020. That order stated that failure to comply would result in dismissal. It also directed Trail to notify the court in writing of any change of address upon release. The court noted that the New York City Department of Corrections inmate look-up service showed that Trail had been released on June 9, 2020.
Failure to Comply
The court found that Trail had not timely paid the filing fees, submitted the prisoner authorization, or otherwise communicated with the court. The court also stated that he did not appear to be reachable.
Ruling
Judge Lorna G. Schofield ordered that the case be dismissed without prejudice because Trail missed the deadline set in the earlier order. The order allowed Trail to send a letter to the pro se office seeking to restore the action within thirty days, by July 20, 2020. All pending deadlines were canceled.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the action, mail Trail a copy of the order, and record service on the docket.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.