Newton v. US Census Bureau
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-02841
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Newton v. U.S. Census Bureau, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice after Newton neither paid the filing fee nor filed an application to proceed without paying it.
Melissa M. Newton’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice because she neither submitted the required application to proceed without paying filing fees nor paid the $402 filing fee. Her request to proceed without paying fees on appeal was also denied.
What happened
Newton v. U.S. Census Bureau concerned the plaintiff’s failure to comply with an order requiring her to pay the filing fees or submit an application to proceed without paying them.
The court had given Newton 30 days to act and warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal. Newton did neither, so the court dismissed the complaint without prejudice. The court also denied permission to proceed without paying fees on appeal.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the dismissal on May 9, 2022, and stated that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Newton v. US Census Bureau · No. 1:22-cv-02841
- Laura Swain
- May 9, 2022
Background
On April 6, 2022, the court ordered Melissa M. Newton to submit, within 30 days, a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees or to pay the $402 required to file a civil action. The order warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.
Newton did not submit the application or pay the filing fees.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. “Without prejudice” means the dismissal does not itself bar refiling. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.