Cano v. Hanna
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-07338
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Cano v. Hanna, Judge Swain ordered Cano to update his address within 30 days or face dismissal without prejudice, and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
Christopher Hiram Cano, a self-represented plaintiff, was ordered to update his address or risk dismissal without prejudice; the defendants were affected because the case remained pending subject to that requirement.
What happened
In Cano v. Hanna, Christopher Hiram Cano, who was representing himself, sued Christine Hanna and others. Cano had been detained when he filed the case, but he did not tell the court that his mailing address changed.
A court letter sent to Cano was returned as undeliverable, and Cano had not contacted the court again. The court ordered him to update his address within 30 days. It said that if he did not comply, it would dismiss the case without prejudice for failure to prosecute.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied Cano permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The order did not dismiss the case at that time.
The detailed version
- Cano v. Hanna · No. 1:21-cv-07338
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 31, 2022
Background
Christopher Hiram Cano filed this action while representing himself and requested permission to proceed without paying the filing fees. He asserted that the defendants violated his rights. When he filed the complaint, he was detained at the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island.
Cano later requested copies of documents. The Clerk’s Office mailed him a letter explaining the fees required to process that request, but the letter was returned as undeliverable with the notation “Return to Sender, Attempted – Not Known, Unable to Forward.” Cano had not notified the court of a change in his mailing address and had not contacted the court further.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) allows a district court to dismiss an action for failure to prosecute after notifying the plaintiff. The court also stated that a plaintiff must notify the court when the plaintiff’s address changes and that failing to do so can justify dismissal.
The court did not dismiss the case immediately. Instead, it directed Cano to update his address of record within 30 days of the order. The court stated that it would dismiss the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute if Cano failed to comply.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied Cano permission to appeal without paying the required filing fees. The opinion does not state that the case was dismissed at the time of this order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.