Bell v. City of New York
- Louis Stanton
- 1:20-cv-09664
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Bell v. City of New York, Judge Stanton dismissed Bell’s complaint after he failed to amend it as ordered and denied fee-free appeal status.
Melvin Bell, III, whose complaint was dismissed and whose permission to appeal without prepaying fees was denied; the City of New York and the other defendants were affected because the action against them was dismissed.
What happened
In Bell v. City of New York, the court had ordered Melvin Bell, III, to file an amended complaint within 60 days and warned that failing to do so would result in dismissal.
Bell did not file an amended complaint. The court therefore dismissed the complaint under the federal statute governing complaints filed without prepaying court fees. The court also denied Bell permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
Judge Louis L. Stanton issued the dismissal order on April 6, 2021. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Bell v. City of New York · No. 1:20-cv-09664
- Louis Stanton
- Apr. 6, 2021
Background
On January 7, 2021, the court ordered Melvin Bell, III, to file an amended complaint within 60 days. The order warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal. The opinion states that Bell did not file an amended complaint.
The complaint had been filed without prepaying the court’s filing fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). The opinion does not describe the claims or explain the allegations against the City of New York or the other defendants.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i1), as that provision is cited in the opinion. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order does not state that the dismissal was with or without prejudice.
Effect
The complaint was dismissed because Bell did not file the required amended complaint. The order also means that Bell was denied fee-free status for an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Bell a copy of the order and record service on the docket.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.