Onatola v. Shelters in the U.S. and the World
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-06233
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Onatolu v. Shelters, Judge McMahon dismissed the pro se action without prejudice because Onatolu did not obtain required permission before seeking fee-free filing.
Adekunle A. Onatolu, whose action was dismissed without prejudice and whose fee-free status for an appeal was denied.
What happened
In Onatolu v. Shelters in the US and the World, the plaintiff filed a new case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying filing fees. A prior court order barred him from filing new fee-free cases unless he first obtained the court’s permission.
The court dismissed this action without prejudice because the plaintiff had not obtained that permission. The court also terminated all other pending matters.
Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk to mail the order to the plaintiff and record service. She also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Onatola v. Shelters in the U.S. and the World · No. 1:20-cv-06233
- Colleen McMahon
- Aug. 11, 2020
Background
The plaintiff, Adekunle A. Onatolu, filed this case without a lawyer and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The opinion states that a July 9, 2015 order barred him from filing any new action without paying filing fees unless he first obtained leave, meaning permission, from the court. He filed this case but did not seek that permission.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to comply with the July 9, 2015 order. The opinion does not address the underlying claims. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to the plaintiff and note service on the docket, and all other pending matters were terminated.
Judge Colleen McMahon certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied the plaintiff permission to proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal. The court did not address the notice of appeal, motion for an extension of time to file a notice of appeal, or motion to proceed without paying filing fees on appeal that the plaintiff attached to the complaint.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.