Williams v. United States
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-06993
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Williams v. United States, Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because Williams lacked required permission and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
John T. Williams’s action was dismissed without prejudice, and he was denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal. The United States was the named defendant.
What happened
Williams v. United States involved a new action filed by John T. Williams without a lawyer. Williams asked to proceed without paying filing fees, but an earlier order had barred him from filing new actions in this court on that basis without first obtaining permission.
Williams had not sought the required permission. The court therefore dismissed the action without prejudice for failing to comply with the earlier order. The opinion does not address the underlying claims.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Williams permission to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Williams v. United States · No. 1:22-cv-06993
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 18, 2022
Background
John T. Williams filed this action without a lawyer and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The opinion states that, in a July 30, 2020 order in a prior related proceeding, the court barred Williams from filing any new action in the Southern District of New York without first obtaining permission from the court. An appeal from that earlier order was dismissed.
Williams originally filed this action in the Eastern District of New York. That court transferred the action to the Southern District of New York on August 9, 2022.
Court’s Analysis
Williams had not asked for the permission required by the July 30, 2020 order. The court therefore dismissed this action for failure to comply with that earlier order. The opinion does not analyze the merits of Williams’s underlying claims.
Ruling
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651. The court 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 proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.