Jones v. Hallett
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-05455
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Jones v. Hallett, Judge Swain ordered Rafael A. Jones to update his address and denied fee-free appeal status.
Rafael A. Jones, Sr., whose case remains subject to possible dismissal without prejudice if he does not update his address within 30 days; the respondents are Michelle Hallett and others identified in the caption.
What happened
In Jones v. Hallett, Rafael A. Jones, Sr. filed a petition under a federal law used to challenge certain state-court custody decisions while incarcerated at Rikers Island. He was released on June 15, 2021, and did not update his address or contact the court.
The court ordered Jones to update his address within 30 days. It warned that if he did not comply, the court would dismiss the case without prejudice for failing to pursue it. The court also directed the Clerk of Court to mail him the order and record service.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied Jones permission to appeal without paying the filing fees. The court did not dismiss the case in this order.
The detailed version
- Jones v. Hallett · No. 1:21-cv-05455
- Laura Swain
- June 28, 2021
Background
Rafael A. Jones, Sr. filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 while incarcerated in the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island. The opinion states that he was released on June 15, 2021. He had not updated his address or otherwise communicated with the court.
Address-update order
The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) permits dismissal for failure to prosecute after the litigant receives notice that dismissal may occur. The court directed Jones to update his address of record within 30 days of the order's date. It stated that, if he failed to comply, the court would dismiss the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The order therefore warned of a possible later dismissal; it did not dismiss the action at this stage.
Appeal and service
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Jones a copy of the order and note service on the docket. A footnote stated that Jones might not receive the order because he had not updated his address, and that finding out the case's status would be his responsibility if he remained interested in litigating.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Jones to update his address within 30 days, denied fee-free appeal status, and warned that noncompliance would lead to dismissal without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The opinion does not state that the case was dismissed by this order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.