To v. Liang
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-11012
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Howard To v. Soho Companies Limited, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice after To failed to pay the filing fee.
Howard To's complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and he was denied permission to appeal without paying the appellate filing fees.
What happened
In Howard To v. Soho Companies Limited, the court had previously denied Howard To permission to proceed without paying the filing fee and ordered him to pay $402 within 30 days. The order warned that failing to pay would lead to dismissal.
The court said the earlier order was returned as undeliverable, and To neither paid the fee nor contacted the court. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling, and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- To v. Liang · No. 1:22-cv-11012
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 22, 2023
Background
The court had previously denied Howard To permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. It ordered To to pay the $402 required to file a civil action within 30 days and stated that failure to comply would result in dismissal. The earlier order was returned as undeliverable on February 13, 2023. The opinion states that To did not pay the fees or otherwise communicate with the court.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.
Effect
The dismissal ended the case at this stage, but the opinion expressly states that it was without prejudice. The ruling was based on failure to pay the required filing fees after the court denied permission to proceed without paying them; the opinion did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.