Diaz v. New York City Midtown West Police Department
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-04023
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Diaz v. New York City Midtown West Police Department: Judge Swain dismissed Diaz’s complaint without prejudice after he failed to pay fees or submit an application.
Johnny Diaz’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not comply with the court’s filing-fee or fee-waiver application order. The court also denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
What happened
In Diaz v. New York City Midtown West Police Department, the court had ordered Johnny Diaz to either pay the required $402 filing fee or submit a completed application to proceed without paying the fee. Diaz’s complaint had been filed under that fee-waiver process.
The court said Diaz did not comply within 30 days. The order sent to him was returned after he was discharged from the West Facility on Rikers Island, and he did not tell the court that his mailing address had changed or contact the court again.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar a new filing. She also ruled that Diaz could not proceed without paying fees for an appeal because any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Diaz v. New York City Midtown West Police Department · No. 1:22-cv-04023
- Laura Swain
- June 23, 2022
Background
Johnny Diaz filed a complaint against New York City Midtown West Police Department and other named and unnamed defendants. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
On May 19, 2022, the court ordered Diaz to do one of two things within 30 days: pay the $402 filing fee required to start a civil case in the court, or submit a completed application to proceed without paying the fee. The opinion refers to this as an application to proceed in forma pauperis, which means asking to proceed without paying the filing fee.
Noncompliance
On June 23, 2022, the court received the May 19 order back. The envelope stated that Diaz had been discharged from the West Facility on Rikers Island. The court found that Diaz had not complied with its order, had not notified the court of a new mailing address, and had not made further contact with the court.
Ruling
The court dismissed Diaz’s complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The opinion did not decide the substance of Diaz’s underlying claims. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.