Petroceli v. U.S. Department of Justice
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-03997
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Petroceli v. U.S. Department of Justice, Judge Swain dismissed a duplicate complaint without prejudice to the pending case.
Domingos Lugao Petroceli’s duplicate lawsuit was dismissed, while his earlier related case remained pending. The listed defendants were the U.S. Department of Justice, the Attorney’s Office SDNY, and Southern District of New York, Manhattan Federal Court.
What happened
In Petroceli v. U.S. Department of Justice, Domingos Lugao Petroceli, representing himself, filed a complaint against the U.S. Department of Justice and other listed defendants.
The court found that Petroceli had already filed a nearly identical complaint asserting the same claims, and that earlier case was still pending under docket number 1:21-CV-3675 (UA). The court said litigating this duplicate lawsuit would serve no useful purpose.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed this complaint as duplicative, without prejudice to Petroceli’s pending case. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Petroceli v. U.S. Department of Justice · No. 1:21-cv-03997
- Laura Swain
- May 13, 2021
Background
Domingos Lugao Petroceli brought this action without a lawyer against the U.S. Department of Justice; the Attorney’s Office SDNY; and Southern District of New York, Manhattan Federal Court. The court stated that Petroceli had previously submitted a nearly identical complaint against the defendants asserting the same claims. That earlier case remained pending under docket number 1:21-CV-3675 (UA).
Court’s Reasoning
The court concluded that the present complaint duplicated the claims in the pending case. It stated that no useful purpose would be served by litigating the duplicate lawsuit.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint as duplicative, without prejudice to Petroceli’s pending case under docket number 1:21-CV-3675 (UA). 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 paying the required filing fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk of Court to mail Petroceli a copy of the order and note service on the docket.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.