Witherspoon v. United Nations
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-01535
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Witherspoon v. United Nations, Judge Swain dismissed the case without prejudice because Witherspoon filed without required court permission.
Desmond Witherspoon’s action was dismissed without prejudice because he did not obtain the permission required by the court’s 2015 order. The court also denied fee-free status for an appeal.
What happened
In Witherspoon v. United Nations, Desmond Witherspoon filed a new case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying filing fees.
A 2015 court order had barred him from filing any new fee-free case unless he first obtained permission from the court. The opinion says he did not seek that permission before filing this case.
Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice for violating the earlier order. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Witherspoon v. United Nations · No. 1:22-cv-01535
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 24, 2022
Background
Desmond Witherspoon filed this case without a lawyer and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The opinion states that, in a June 30, 2015 order, the court barred Witherspoon from filing any new action without paying filing fees unless he first obtained leave, meaning permission, from the court.
Ruling
Witherspoon had not sought permission before filing this action. The court therefore dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to comply with the 2015 order. The court directed the Clerk of Court to assign the matter to Judge Swain’s docket, mail the order to Witherspoon, record service on the docket, and close the action.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal. The opinion does not address the merits of Witherspoon’s claims against the defendants.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.