Christenson v. Donel
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-06728
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Christenson v. Donel, Judge McMahon dismissed the case without prejudice because Christenson lacked permission to file without paying fees; appeal fee-waiver status was denied.
Mark C. Christenson’s case was dismissed without prejudice, and he was denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The order required him to obtain court permission before filing a new action without paying fees.
What happened
In Christenson v. Donel, Mark C. Christenson filed a new case without a lawyer. A 2018 court order had barred him from filing new actions without paying fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission to proceed without paying them.
Christenson did not ask for that permission and did not pay the filing fees. The court assumed he intended to proceed without paying fees and dismissed the action because he had not followed the earlier order.
Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling. The court also denied Christenson permission to appeal without paying fees, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Christenson v. Donel · No. 1:20-cv-06728
- Colleen McMahon
- Aug. 21, 2020
Background
Mark C. Christenson filed this case against John Donel without a lawyer. The opinion states that, in a June 20, 2018 order, the court barred Christenson from filing any new action without paying filing fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission to proceed without paying them.
Filing Requirements
Christenson filed the new action but neither requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees nor paid the filing fees. The court assumed, for purposes of this order, that he sought to proceed without paying fees. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims against Donel.
Ruling
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1651, the court dismissed the action without prejudice because Christenson had not obtained the permission required by the June 20, 2018 order. “Without prejudice” means the dismissal did not itself bar refiling. The clerk was directed to mail Christenson a copy of the order and record service on the docket.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Christenson permission to appeal without paying filing fees. Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.