Court, Explained
U.S. Federal District Courts
←Back to docket
S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Dec. 28, 2020

Mann v. New York County

Judge
Valerie Caproni
Docket
1:19-cv-08009
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Mann v. City of New York, Judge Caproni dismissed the case for failure to prosecute and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.

Who this affects

Jabari Mann's case against the City of New York was dismissed, and his request to appeal without paying filing fees was denied.

What happened

In Jabari Mann v. City of New York, Mann, who was representing himself, filed a complaint. The City later moved to dismiss the complaint or, alternatively, for summary judgment.

Mann did not respond to the City’s motion, an order requiring him to explain why the case should continue, or the magistrate judge’s recommendation that the case be dismissed. The court therefore considered his failure to participate in the case.

Judge Valerie Caproni dismissed the case for failure to prosecute under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). She also ruled that Mann’s failure to object to the recommendation prevented appellate review and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.

The detailed version

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

Case
Mann v. New York County · No. 1:19-cv-08009
Judge
Valerie Caproni
Date
Dec. 28, 2020

Background

Jabari Mann filed a complaint while representing himself. The court referred the case to Magistrate Judge Freeman for general pretrial matters and dispositive motions. The City of New York moved to dismiss the complaint or, alternatively, for summary judgment.

Failure to Respond

Magistrate Judge Freeman directed Mann to oppose the City’s motion to dismiss by October 16, 2020. Mann did not oppose the motion or otherwise respond. The City then moved to dismiss the case for failure to prosecute under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), which permits dismissal when a plaintiff does not pursue the case.

Magistrate Judge Freeman ordered Mann to show cause by November 13, 2020, why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute. Mann did not respond to that order. The City renewed its motion, and Magistrate Judge Freeman issued a report and recommendation recommending dismissal. Mann did not object to or otherwise respond to that recommendation.

Ruling

Judge Valerie Caproni ordered that the case be dismissed for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b). The court stated that the report and recommendation gave Mann adequate warning, and that his failure to object prevented appellate review of the decision. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying appellate filing fees. The Clerk of Court was directed to close open motions, terminate the case, and mail Mann a copy of the order.

The authoritative version

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

Open opinion PDF →
Summary written with AI assistance. See how summaries are made. Spot something wrong? Tell us.