Onatolu v. All Religious Organization
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-02938
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Onatolu v. All Religious Organizations, Judge McMahon dismissed the case without prejudice because the pro se plaintiff did not obtain required permission before seeking a filing-fee waiver.
Adekunle A. Onatolu, who filed the case without a lawyer and sought to proceed without paying filing fees, was affected by the dismissal and denial of fee-waiver status for an appeal.
What happened
In Onatolu v. All Religious Organizations, Adekunle A. Onatolu filed a new case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying the filing fee. The court had previously barred him from filing new cases without first obtaining the court’s permission.
Onatolu submitted several filings, including requests related to proceeding without paying fees and an appeal. But he did not ask the court for the required permission to file the case.
Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the case without prejudice because Onatolu failed to comply with the earlier order. She terminated all other matters, and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal after certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Onatolu v. All Religious Organization · No. 1:21-cv-02938
- Colleen McMahon
- Apr. 7, 2021
Background
On July 9, 2015, the court ordered that Plaintiff Adekunle A. Onatolu could not file any new action without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained the court’s permission. In this case, Onatolu proceeded without a lawyer and sought permission to file without paying the fee, but he did not seek the required advance permission from the court.
Onatolu also submitted motions, declarations, a notice of appeal, and requests to proceed without paying fees on appeal.
Ruling
Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651 because Onatolu failed to comply with the July 9, 2015 order. “Without prejudice” means the dismissal did not itself bar a later filing, although the opinion states that the earlier permission requirement remained applicable. The court terminated all other matters.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Onatolu permission to appeal without paying the required fee. The clerk was directed to mail the order to Onatolu and record service on the docket.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.