Petroceli v. U.S. Department of Justice
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-04793
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Petroceli v. U.S. Department of Justice, Judge Swain dismissed a duplicate complaint without prejudice and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
Domingos Lugao Petroceli’s duplicate complaint was dismissed, while his earlier related case under docket number 1:21-CV-3675 (LTS) was not dismissed by this order.
What happened
Domingos Lugao Petroceli, representing himself, sued the U.S. Department of Justice. The court said he had already filed a nearly identical case involving the same claims, which was still pending under another docket number.
The court dismissed this complaint as duplicative, without prejudice to Petroceli’s pending case. The court also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on May 28, 2021, and directed the Clerk of Court to mail it to Petroceli and record that it had been served.
The detailed version
- Petroceli v. U.S. Department of Justice · No. 1:21-cv-04793
- Laura Swain
- May 28, 2021
Background
Domingos Lugao Petroceli brought the action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he had previously submitted a nearly identical complaint asserting the same claims. That earlier case was pending under docket number 1:21-CV-3675 (LTS). A footnote states that the earlier complaint could not proceed unless Petroceli paid the filing fees or requested permission to proceed without paying them.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint as duplicative because litigating a second lawsuit raising the same claims would serve no useful purpose. The dismissal was without prejudice to Petroceli’s pending case under docket number 1:21-CV-3675 (LTS). 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 proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.
Additional Order
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to mail a copy of the order to Petroceli and note service on the docket.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.