Bowleg v. The State of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-06855
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Bowleg v. State of New York, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice after Bowleg neither filed an IFP application nor paid filing fees.
Harry Alphonso Bowleg’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required application to proceed without prepaying fees or pay the $402 filing fee. The court did not reach the underlying claims.
What happened
In Bowleg v. The State of New York, Harry Alphonso Bowleg sued the State of New York, the United States Justice Department, and the United States of America.
The court had ordered Bowleg to file an application to proceed without paying the filing fee or to pay the required $402 in fees within 30 days. He did neither.
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Bowleg v. The State of New York · No. 1:22-cv-06855
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 13, 2022
Background
Harry Alphonso Bowleg filed a complaint against the State of New York, the United States Justice Department, and the United States of America. The court previously directed him, within 30 days, either to submit an application to proceed without prepaying court fees or to pay the $402 required to file a civil action.
Court’s action
Bowleg did not submit the application or pay the filing fees. Based on that failure to comply with the court’s order, the court dismissed the complaint without prejudice. This means the dismissal did not bar refiling, although the opinion does not address any requirements for doing so.
The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.