Whitfield v. Operation
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-07725
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Whitfield v. Operation, Judge McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice after Whitfield failed to pay fees or submit a fee-waiver application.
Demetrius Whitfield’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and he was denied permission to appeal without paying the appeal fee. The opinion does not state any separate relief affecting the defendants.
What happened
In Whitfield v. Operation, the court had ordered Demetrius Whitfield to pay the required filing fees or submit an application to proceed without paying them. The order gave him thirty days to do so.
The court’s September 21, 2020 order was returned as undeliverable. Whitfield did not comply, update his mailing address, or contact the court.
Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling. She also ruled that Whitfield could not appeal without paying the appeal fee because the appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Whitfield v. Operation · No. 1:20-cv-07725
- Colleen McMahon
- Nov. 4, 2020
Background
On September 21, 2020, the court ordered Demetrius Whitfield to either pay the $400 filing fee required to bring a civil action in the court or submit a completed application to proceed without paying the fee. He had thirty days to comply.
The court’s order was returned on October 19, 2020, marked undeliverable at the address used for mailing. Whitfield had not complied with the order, had not notified the court of a new mailing address, and had not otherwise contacted the court.
Ruling
The court dismissed Whitfield’s complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The opinion states that the complaint had been filed under the statute allowing a person to proceed without paying filing fees. Because the dismissal was without prejudice, the opinion did not bar refiling.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.