Stepherson v. Haaland
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-09202
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Stepherson v. Haaland, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice after Stepherson neither paid filing fees nor submitted the required application.
Mark Anthony Stepherson’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and his request to appeal without paying fees was denied. The opinion does not describe any further effect on the defendants.
What happened
In Stepherson v. Haaland, the court had ordered the plaintiff to either submit an application to proceed without paying filing fees or pay $402 to file the civil case. The order warned that failing to comply would lead to dismissal.
The plaintiff instead filed a letter objecting to that requirement. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice because he did not follow the court’s order.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. The clerk was directed to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Stepherson v. Haaland · No. 1:22-cv-09202
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 10, 2022
Background
The court had previously ordered Mark Anthony Stepherson to submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees or to pay the $402 filing fee required for a civil action. The order gave him thirty days to comply and warned that the complaint would be dismissed if he did not.
On November 10, 2022, Stepherson filed a letter taking “exception” to the order. The opinion does not state that he submitted the required application or paid the filing fee.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice for failure to comply with its order, citing 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. “Without prejudice” means the dismissal did not bar refiling based on the dismissal itself.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied permission to appeal without paying the required fees and directed the clerk to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.