Smith v. State of South Carolina
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-00573
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Smith v. State of South Carolina, Judge McMahon dismissed the pro se case without prejudice because Smith did not obtain required permission to file without fees.
Wesley Edward Smith, II’s action was dismissed without prejudice for failing to obtain the required permission before filing without paying filing fees. The court also denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
What happened
In Smith v. State of South Carolina, Wesley Edward Smith, II filed a new case without a lawyer. A prior order barred him from filing new cases without paying filing fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission.
Smith did not ask for permission before filing this case. He also did not request that filing fees be waived, but the court assumed that he was seeking that waiver for purposes of this order.
Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice because Smith did not comply with the earlier order. She also ended all pending motions and denied fee-waiver status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Smith v. State of South Carolina · No. 1:21-cv-00573
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 11, 2021
Background
Wesley Edward Smith, II filed this new case without a lawyer. The opinion states that, in a prior related proceeding, the court barred Smith from filing any new action without paying filing fees unless he first obtained permission from the court. Smith did not seek that permission before filing this action.
Smith also did not request permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The court nevertheless assumed, for purposes of the order, that he was seeking that status.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 because Smith failed to comply with the earlier order requiring him to obtain permission before filing without paying filing fees. The court directed the clerk to mail Smith a copy of the order, record service on the docket, and terminate all motions in the case.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied Smith permission to proceed without paying appellate filing fees. Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.