Graves v. The United States Government
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-03006
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Graves v. The United States Government, Judge McMahon dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Graves neither paid filing fees nor submitted required forms.
Donald Graves's complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required forms or pay the filing fees. Permission to appeal without paying fees was also denied.
What happened
In Graves v. The United States Government, the court had ordered Donald Graves to submit forms requesting permission to proceed without paying filing fees, along with prisoner authorization, or to pay the required fees.
Graves did not submit the forms or pay the fees by the deadline. The court therefore dismissed his complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling.
Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Graves v. The United States Government · No. 1:21-cv-03006
- Colleen McMahon
- June 3, 2021
Background
On April 9, 2021, the court ordered Donald Graves to submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees and a prisoner authorization, or to pay the $402 required to file a civil action. The order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal.
Ruling
Graves did not submit the application and prisoner authorization and did not pay the filing fees. Citing 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915, the court dismissed the complaint without prejudice.
Appeal-fee ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The opinion does not address the merits of Graves's underlying claims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.