Fate v. John
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:18-cv-03493
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fate v. John, Judge McMahon denied Fate’s request to proceed without paying filing fees and dismissed the action without prejudice under the prisoner filing law.
Forest L. Fate, Sr. could not proceed in this action without prepaying the filing fee, and the action was dismissed without prejudice. John and Harbor Auto Center were defendants in the dismissed action. Any appeal would also not receive fee-free status.
What happened
Forest L. Fate, Sr. sued John and Harbor Auto Center, but the opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
The court had previously paused the case while another action determined whether Fate had at least three qualifying dismissals under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Another judge found that Fate had four such dismissals, all before he filed this case.
Judge Colleen McMahon denied Fate’s application to proceed without paying filing fees and dismissed the action without prejudice because the law barred him from doing so. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Fate v. John · No. 1:18-cv-03493
- Colleen McMahon
- Apr. 29, 2021
Background
Forest L. Fate, Sr. brought this action against John and Harbor Auto Center. The opinion does not describe the claims underlying the lawsuit.
Prior proceedings
On March 23, 2020, the court vacated its December 14, 2018 judgment and placed the case on hold while another action brought by Fate addressed whether he had accumulated at least three dismissals, or “strikes,” under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. That law generally prevents a prisoner with three or more qualifying strikes from proceeding in a federal civil action without prepaying the filing fee, unless a statutory exception applies.
In the related action, another judge determined on March 26, 2021, that Fate had accumulated four strikes. The opinion states that Fate was incarcerated at Five Points Correctional Facility, had filed this complaint while held at Orange County Jail, and had accumulated all four strikes before filing this case. The court also stated that Fate alleged no facts showing that an exception to the filing bar applied.
Ruling
Judge Colleen McMahon denied Fate’s application to proceed without prepaying the filing fee and dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). The court did not decide the underlying claims. It also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3).
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.