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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Jan. 4, 2021

Colosi v. Gaylord

Judge
Colleen McMahon
Docket
1:20-cv-09595
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Colosi v. Gaylord, Judge McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Colosi did not pay the required filing fees.

Who this affects

Paul M. Colosi’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice for failure to pay the required filing fees. The order also denied fee-free status for an appeal.

What happened

In Colosi v. Gaylord, Paul M. Colosi filed a civil action against Arlene A. Gaylord and William D. Spencer. The court had denied his request to proceed without paying filing fees and ordered him to pay $400 within 30 days.

Colosi did not pay the required fees. The court’s order explained that the fees were $400 for this action because it was filed before the fees increased on December 1, 2020.

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice. She also ruled that Colosi could not proceed without paying fees on an appeal because an appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

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

Case
Colosi v. Gaylord · No. 1:20-cv-09595
Judge
Colleen McMahon
Date
Jan. 4, 2021

Background

Paul M. Colosi sued Arlene A. Gaylord, identified in the caption as an Assistant Director of the Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William D. Spencer, identified as Clerk of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

On November 20, 2020, the court denied Colosi’s request to proceed without paying the filing fee, a status commonly called proceeding without prepaying fees. The court ordered him to pay the $400 required to file a civil action within 30 days and stated that failure to do so would result in dismissal. The opinion states that the fee increase effective December 1, 2020, did not apply because this action was filed before that date.

Ruling

Because Colosi did not pay the fees, Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The order also directed the Clerk of Court to mail Colosi a copy and record service on the docket.

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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