Brown v. Campbell
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-00362
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Brown v. Campbell: Judge Swain dismissed the duplicate complaint without prejudice and denied fee-free appeal status.
Carol Brown’s duplicate complaint was dismissed without prejudice, while her pending related case was not dismissed by this order. The order also denied her permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
What happened
In Brown v. Campbell, Carol Brown sued Crystal Campbell, alleging that Campbell violated her rights. Brown represented herself. The court said Brown had already filed a substantially similar case involving the same facts, which was still pending under docket number 1:21-CV-10276 (LTS).
The court dismissed this complaint without prejudice because it duplicated the pending case. The dismissal did not state that Brown’s claims were finally barred. The court also denied Brown permission to appeal without paying filing fees, certifying that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the dismissal on January 19, 2022, and directed the clerk to mail Brown a copy and record service on the docket.
The detailed version
- Brown v. Campbell · No. 1:22-cv-00362
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 19, 2022
Background
Carol Brown, appearing without a lawyer, brought an action against Crystal Campbell alleging that Campbell violated Brown’s rights. The opinion does not identify the specific rights or claims alleged.
Reason for Dismissal
The court stated that Brown had previously submitted a substantially similar complaint against Campbell based on the same set of facts. That earlier case remained pending under docket number 1:21-CV-10276 (LTS). Because the current complaint raised the same claims, the court concluded that litigating the duplicate lawsuit would serve no useful purpose.
Ruling
The court dismissed Brown’s complaint without prejudice as duplicative of the pending case. The order therefore did not state that the claims were permanently barred. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Brown permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The clerk was directed to mail Brown the order and note service on the docket. Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.