Johnson v. Wolf

Background

Robert W. Johnson filed the action without a lawyer. On November 5, 2019, the court dismissed the action as frivolous, for failure to state a claim, and because it sought money from defendants protected from such relief under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). The court also noted that Johnson had filed numerous other cases in federal courts arising from a January 28, 2017 car accident in Buffalo, New York.

The court ordered Johnson to explain within 30 days why it should not bar him from filing additional actions in this court without paying filing fees unless he first obtained permission. Johnson did not file the required declaration. He instead filed a notice of appeal on November 13, 2019. The Second Circuit denied that appeal on July 9, 2020, and warned that continued duplicative, harassing, or clearly meritless filings could lead to monetary penalties and a requirement that he obtain permission before filing additional submissions there.

Ruling

The court issued a bar order under 28 U.S.C. § 1651. It barred Johnson, effective November 5, 2019, from filing future civil actions in this court without paying filing fees unless he first obtained permission from the court. Any request for permission had to include the proposed complaint and a copy of the order, and had to be filed with the court’s Pro Se Intake Unit. The court stated that it would dismiss any action filed without the required request for permission.

The court also warned that further frivolous filings could lead to additional sanctions, including monetary penalties. It certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Johnson permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The clerk was directed to enter judgment.