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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Dec. 18, 2020

Armstead v. Hellerstein

Judge
Colleen McMahon
Docket
1:20-cv-10647
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Armstead v. Hellerstein, Judge McMahon administratively closed a duplicate action and denied fee-free appeal status.

Who this affects

Brenda C. Armstead and the duplicate civil action docketed as 20-CV-10647 (CM).

What happened

In Armstead v. Hellerstein, Brenda C. Armstead, who represented herself, sent one submission that was mistakenly opened as two identical civil cases.

The court determined that this action was opened in error and directed the Clerk to administratively close it. The court also denied Armstead permission to appeal without paying filing fees.

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk to mail Armstead the order, record service on the docket, and administratively close the action. She certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Armstead v. Hellerstein · No. 1:20-cv-10647
Judge
Colleen McMahon
Date
Dec. 18, 2020

Background

Brenda C. Armstead brought the action without a lawyer. The court received one submission from her on December 15, 2020, but the submission was docketed twice and opened as two civil actions: 20-CV-10633 (UA) and 20-CV-10647 (CM). After reviewing both submissions, the court concluded that they were identical and that this action, 20-CV-10647 (CM), had been opened in error.

Ruling

The court directed the Clerk of Court to administratively close this action. Administrative closure was the specific action ordered; the opinion does not call it a dismissal. The court also directed the Clerk to mail Armstead a copy of the order and note service on the docket.

Appeal-Filing Determination

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3), the court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied Armstead permission to appeal without paying the required filing fees.

Disposition

Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the administrative closure of 20-CV-10647 (CM) and denied fee-free status for an appeal.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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