Williams v. United States
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-08199
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Williams v. United States, Chief Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because Williams filed without required court permission.
John T. Williams’s new action was dismissed without prejudice. The United States was named as the defendant, but the court did not address the merits of Williams’s claims. Williams was also denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
What happened
Williams v. United States involved John T. Williams’s new case, which he filed without a lawyer and asked to pursue without paying filing fees. A prior court order barred him from filing new cases this way unless he first obtained permission.
Williams had not requested that permission. The court therefore dismissed this case without prejudice for violating the earlier order. The case had been transferred from the Western District of New York to the Southern District of New York.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied Williams permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the clerk to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Williams v. United States · No. 1:22-cv-08199
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 27, 2022
Background
John T. Williams filed a new action without a lawyer and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees. In an earlier order dated July 30, 2020, the court had barred Williams from filing any new action in that court without paying fees unless he first obtained the court’s permission. The opinion states that the appeal from that earlier order was dismissed.
Williams did not seek permission before filing this action. The action had originally been filed in the Western District of New York and was transferred to the Southern District of New York by an order dated September 19, 2022.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice because Williams failed to comply with the July 30, 2020 order. The opinion does not address the underlying claims. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. The clerk was directed to enter judgment.
Classification
This is a procedural order because the court dismissed the action for failure to comply with a filing restriction without reaching the merits of the claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.