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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Jan. 20, 2021

Clark v. Department of Corrections

Judge
Colleen McMahon
Docket
1:20-cv-09404
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Clark v. Department of Corrections, Judge McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Clark did not pay fees or submit required forms.

Who this affects

Curtis Clark's federal civil action was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required fee-waiver and prisoner-authorization forms or pay the filing fees. His request to proceed without prepaying fees on appeal was also denied.

What happened

In Clark v. Department of Corrections, the court had ordered Curtis Clark to submit forms requesting permission to proceed without paying filing fees and authorizing deductions from a prisoner account, or to pay the required $400 filing fees.

Clark did neither within the required thirty days. The court therefore dismissed the action without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling.

Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.

The detailed version

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

Case
Clark v. Department of Corrections · No. 1:20-cv-09404
Judge
Colleen McMahon
Date
Jan. 20, 2021

Background

On November 13, 2020, the court directed Curtis Clark to do one of two things within thirty days: submit a completed application for permission to proceed without prepaying court fees and a prisoner authorization, or pay the $400 required to file a civil action. The order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.

Ruling

Clark did not submit the required application and authorization and did not pay the filing fees. The court dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915.

The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The clerk was directed to mail the order to Clark and record service on the docket.

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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