Morgan v. Hartman
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-03501
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Morgan v. Hartman, Chief Judge Swain dismissed a duplicate lawsuit without prejudice and denied appeal-without-fees status.
Michael M. Morgan’s duplicate complaint was dismissed without prejudice; his pending case under docket number 22-CV-3367 (LTS) was not dismissed by this order. The order also denied permission to appeal without paying the required fees.
What happened
In Morgan v. Hartman, Michael M. Morgan, who was representing himself, sued Scott Hartman and other defendants under federal-question jurisdiction. The court said Morgan had already filed a substantially similar complaint against the same defendants, and that earlier case was still pending under docket number 22-CV-3367 (LTS).
The court dismissed this complaint without prejudice because it duplicated the pending case. The dismissal did not bar Morgan’s pending case under docket number 22-CV-3367 (LTS).
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Morgan permission to appeal without paying the required fees.
The detailed version
- Morgan v. Hartman · No. 1:22-cv-03501
- Laura Swain
- May 2, 2022
Background
Michael M. Morgan filed this action under the court’s federal-question jurisdiction. The opinion states that Morgan was representing himself. Morgan had previously submitted a substantially similar complaint against the same defendants, and that earlier case was pending under docket number 22-CV-3367 (LTS).
Reason for dismissal
The court concluded that the complaint raised the same claims as the pending case. It determined that litigating the duplicate lawsuit would serve no useful purpose.
Ruling
The court dismissed Morgan’s complaint without prejudice as duplicative of docket number 22-CV-3367 (LTS). The order therefore did not dismiss the pending related case. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the required fees.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.