Williams v. Sullivan
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-03823
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Williams v. King, Judge Swain dismissed John T. Williams’s action without prejudice for violating a prior filing restriction and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
John T. Williams’s new civil action was dismissed without prejudice because he did not obtain the permission required by an earlier filing restriction. Williams, Scott & Associates LLC was not treated as a plaintiff, and Williams was denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
What happened
In Williams v. King, John T. Williams filed a new case without paying the filing fee or requesting permission to file. The court treated him as asking to proceed without paying fees because he had not paid them. Although the complaint also named Williams, Scott & Associates LLC, the court understood Williams to be the only plaintiff because he alone signed the complaint and was representing himself.
A prior order had barred Williams from filing new civil actions without paying fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission. Williams did not request that permission for this case. The court therefore dismissed the action without prejudice for failing to follow the earlier order.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Williams permission to appeal without paying fees. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Williams v. Sullivan · No. 1:22-cv-03823
- Laura Swain
- May 12, 2022
Background
John T. Williams filed this pro se action. The complaint’s caption named both Williams and Williams, Scott & Associates LLC as plaintiffs, but the court understood John T. Williams to be the only plaintiff because he was the only person who signed the complaint. The court also stated that a person representing himself without a lawyer may not represent another person or entity, including a limited liability company.
A prior order had barred Williams from filing any new civil action in the Southern District of New York without paying the filing fee unless he first obtained permission from the court. Williams filed this action without paying the fee and without filing an application to proceed without paying it. Because he had not paid the fee, the court treated the complaint as requesting permission to proceed without paying fees. Williams did not, however, ask for the required permission to file the action.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice because Williams failed to comply with the earlier filing restriction. The opinion does not address the merits of the claims.
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 fees for an appeal. The order was signed by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.