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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled June 14, 2021

Robinson v. The State of New York

Judge
Laura Swain
Docket
1:21-cv-04176
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Robinson v. State of New York, Judge Swain dismissed Robinson’s complaint without prejudice because he neither paid the filing fee nor submitted required forms.

Who this affects

Maurice Robinson’s complaint against the State of New York and other defendants was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required fee-waiver materials or pay the filing fees. His request to appeal without prepaying fees was also denied.

What happened

In Robinson v. State of New York, Maurice Robinson sued the State of New York and other defendants, but the opinion does not describe the underlying claims.

The court had ordered Robinson to submit an application to proceed without paying the filing fee and a required prisoner authorization, or to pay the $400 filing fee. Robinson did none of those things within the required time.

The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal after finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Robinson v. The State of New York · No. 1:21-cv-04176
Judge
Laura Swain
Date
June 14, 2021

Background

By an order dated May 12, 2021, the court directed Plaintiff Maurice Robinson to do one of two things within 30 days: submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying the filing fee and a prisoner authorization, or pay the $400 in filing fees required for a civil action. The court warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.

Court’s ruling

Robinson did not submit the application or prisoner authorization and did not pay the filing fees. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The opinion does not address the substance of Robinson’s claims.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Robinson permission to appeal without prepaying the required fees. The clerk was directed to mail Robinson a copy of the order and record service on the docket.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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