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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Jan. 25, 2023

Mercer v. Westchester Medical Center

Judge
Laura Swain
Docket
1:22-cv-07134
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil ProcedureMotion to Dismiss
In one sentence

In Mercer v. Westchester Medical Center, Judge Swain granted Mercer’s voluntary dismissal without prejudice under Rule 41(a).

Who this affects

Robert Mercer’s action against Westchester Medical Center was dismissed without prejudice, and permission to appeal without paying filing fees was denied.

What happened

In Mercer v. Westchester Medical Center, Robert Mercer asked the court to dismiss the action, stating that the complaint did not have enough statutory strength to win the case.

The court treated Mercer’s filing, titled a motion to dismiss for lack of statutory standing, as a request to voluntarily dismiss the case under Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted the request and dismissed the action without prejudice. She also ended all other pending matters, closed the case, and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees because the court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Mercer v. Westchester Medical Center · No. 1:22-cv-07134
Judge
Laura Swain
Date
Jan. 25, 2023

Background

Robert Mercer sued Westchester Medical Center. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.

Request for dismissal

On December 16, 2022, the court received Mercer’s filing titled “Motion to dismiss for lack of statutory standing.” Mercer asked the court to dismiss the action for lack of statutory standing and stated that the complaint “does not have the statutory strength to win this case.”

Court’s ruling

The court construed Mercer’s filing as a motion for voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court granted the request and dismissed the action without prejudice. It terminated all other pending matters and closed the case.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. As a result, it denied permission to appeal without paying the required filing fees.

Disposition

The action was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice under Rule 41(a).

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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