Onatolu v. News Stations Around the World
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-07607
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Onatolu v. News Stations Around the World, Judge McMahon dismissed the case without prejudice and denied appeal-related fee status.
Adekunle A. Onatolu’s civil action was dismissed without prejudice, and his request to proceed without paying filing fees on appeal was denied.
What happened
In Onatolu v. News Stations Around the World, Adekunle A. Onatolu filed a new civil case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying filing fees.
A 2015 order had barred him from filing a new civil case in the Southern District of New York without first getting the court’s permission. He had not requested that permission before filing this case.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the case without prejudice because Onatolu did not follow the 2015 order. She also denied fee status for an appeal after certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Onatolu v. News Stations Around the World · No. 1:20-cv-07607
- Colleen McMahon
- Sept. 17, 2020
Background
Adekunle A. Onatolu filed this civil action without a lawyer, sought permission to proceed without paying filing fees, and named News Stations Around the World as the defendant. The court had previously ordered, on July 9, 2015, that Onatolu could not file any new civil action in the Southern District of New York without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained the court’s permission to file.
Reason for dismissal
Onatolu had not sought permission before filing this action. The court dismissed the action without prejudice for failing to comply with the 2015 order. The opinion identifies the authority for the dismissal as 28 U.S.C. § 1651.
Appeal-related ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal. The court did not address the notice of appeal and related requests attached to the complaint because no order in this action existed from which to appeal when the complaint was filed.
Judge and disposition
Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the dismissal without prejudice and denied fee status for an appeal.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.