Sister E. Jones-Bey v. Chen
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-06142
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Sister E. Jones-Bey v. Chen, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint, denied a requested writ, and denied fee-waiver status for appeal.
Sister E. Jones-Bey’s complaint remained dismissed; any state-law claims she might be asserting were not heard under supplemental jurisdiction, and her request for fee-waiver status for an appeal was denied.
What happened
In Sister E. Jones-Bey v. Chen, the court had already dismissed the complaint and allowed Sister E. Jones-Bey 30 days to file an amended complaint addressing her state-law claims and facts supporting federal diversity jurisdiction.
Instead of amending, Sister E. Jones-Bey appealed. The Second Circuit dismissed that appeal, stating that it lacked an arguable basis in law or fact. After more than 30 days passed without an amended complaint, the district court dismissed the complaint for the reasons given in its earlier dismissal order.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied Sister E. Jones-Bey’s request for a writ challenging custody, declined to exercise federal authority over any state-law claims she might be asserting, and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal after finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Sister E. Jones-Bey v. Chen · No. 1:21-cv-06142
- Laura Swain
- July 6, 2022
Background
In an order dated September 17, 2021, the court dismissed the complaint but gave Sister E. Jones-Bey 30 days to file an amended complaint. The court allowed her to replead her state-law claims and to allege facts establishing diversity jurisdiction, the legal basis for a federal court to hear certain claims involving parties from different states.
Sister E. Jones-Bey did not file an amended complaint. Instead, she filed a notice of interlocutory appeal on October 4, 2021. The Second Circuit dismissed that appeal by mandate dated May 17, 2022, stating that the appeal lacked an arguable basis in law or fact. More than 30 days then passed without an amended complaint.
Rulings
The court dismissed the complaint for the reasons stated in its September 17, 2021, dismissal order. The opinion provided here does not repeat those reasons.
The court denied Sister E. Jones-Bey’s request for a writ of habeas corpus, a court order concerning allegedly unlawful custody or detention. The court also declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, meaning its authority to hear related state-law claims, over any state-law claims Sister E. Jones-Bey might be asserting.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3).
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.