Pickering-George v. Commissioner of Social Secuirty Administration
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-09251
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Pickering-George v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration, Judge Swain denied an extension as unnecessary and denied appeal-related IFP status.
John Pickering-George’s request for more time to file a notice of appeal was denied as unnecessary because his notice was timely. He was also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal from this order.
What happened
In John Pickering-George v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration, Pickering-George challenged a Social Security decision and asked to file the case without paying the filing fee. The court had previously denied that request and dismissed the action, then denied his request for reconsideration.
Pickering-George filed a notice of appeal from the reconsideration order and asked for more time to appeal. The court found that he had filed the notice within the required 30-day period, so it denied the request for more time as unnecessary.
Judge Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied Pickering-George permission to proceed without paying the appellate filing fee.
The detailed version
- Pickering-George v. Commissioner of Social Secuirty Administration · No. 1:21-cv-09251
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 29, 2022
Background
John Pickering-George filed this lawsuit without a lawyer to seek review under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) of the Social Security Commissioner’s decision denying or terminating his application for disability benefits. He also asked to file the lawsuit and proceed without paying filing fees. The court had previously barred him from filing a new action without first obtaining permission to proceed without paying those fees.
On January 10, 2022, the court found that Pickering-George had not shown good cause to file the new action without paying the fee, denied permission to do so, and dismissed the action. On February 22, 2022, the court denied his motion asking the court to reconsider that order.
Motion and Ruling
Pickering-George filed a notice of appeal from the February 22 order and moved under Rule 4(a)(5) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure for more time to file the notice. The court explained that a notice of appeal generally must be filed within 30 days after the order or judgment being challenged. Because Pickering-George filed his notice within 30 days of the February 22 order, the court denied the extension request as unnecessary.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal from this order. The order did not decide the underlying Social Security benefits question.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.