Falls v. Doughty
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-03425
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Falls v. Doughty, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Falls neither filed required fee-waiver documents nor paid the filing fee.
Laquan K. Falls, whose complaint was dismissed without prejudice; the court also denied him permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.
What happened
Falls v. Doughty concerned Laquan K. Falls’s failure to complete the steps required to file his civil complaint in federal court.
The court had ordered Falls to file an application to proceed without paying the filing fee and a required prisoner authorization, or to pay the $402 filing fee, within 30 days. Falls did none of these things.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Falls permission to appeal without paying the fee.
The detailed version
- Falls v. Doughty · No. 1:21-cv-03425
- Laura Swain
- June 16, 2021
Background
On April 23, 2021, the court directed Laquan K. Falls to submit a completed application to proceed without paying the filing fee, along with a prisoner authorization, or to pay the $402 required filing fee. The court warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.
Compliance and ruling
Falls did not file the application and prisoner authorization and did not pay the filing fee. Judge Laura Taylor Swain therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The opinion does not address the substance of Falls’s claims.
Appeal and effect
The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee. Because the complaint was dismissed without prejudice, the order did not state that refiling was barred.
Administrative directions
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Falls a copy of the order at his last known address and record service on the docket.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.