Cano v. United States of America/Corporate America
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-09165
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Cano v. United States of America/Corporate America, Chief Judge Swain dismissed the case without prejudice for failure to prosecute and denied appeal fee-free status.
The dismissal affected Christopher Hiram Cano’s action against the United States of America/Corporate America, et al.; the court did not reach the merits of his claims.
What happened
In Christopher Hiram Cano v. United States of America/Corporate America, et al., the plaintiff, who was representing himself, sued defendants and asked to proceed without paying filing fees. He was detained at Rikers Island when he filed the complaint.
The court ordered Cano to submit a signed prisoner authorization and later ordered him to update his mailing address. Court mail was returned, and Cano did not update his address or contact the court again. He also did not comply with the address-update order.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The court also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal, and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Cano v. United States of America/Corporate America · No. 1:21-cv-09165
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 5, 2022
Background
Christopher Hiram Cano brought the action against the United States of America/Corporate America, et al., asserting that the defendants violated his rights. He was representing himself and sought permission to proceed without paying the filing fee under the federal statute governing fee-free filings for people who cannot pay. When he filed the complaint, he was detained at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island.
Orders and noncompliance
On April 5, 2022, the court ordered Cano to submit a completed and signed prisoner authorization. The Clerk’s Office mailed the order to him, but the mail was returned on April 26, 2022, with an envelope notation stating, “Inmate DISC xSH 3/30.” Cano did not notify the court that his mailing address had changed and did not contact the court further. The opinion notes that a jail-record lookup showed he was “Released to State Hospital” on August 4, 2022.
On August 31, 2022, the court ordered Cano to update his address within 30 days. The order warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal without prejudice for failure to prosecute, meaning the dismissal itself did not bar the action from being brought again. Cano did not comply, update his address, or otherwise contact the court.
Ruling
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed Cano’s complaint without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute. The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Cano permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment. The order did not decide whether Cano’s underlying rights-violation claims were valid.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.