Colson v. Annucci
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-00766
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 7
In Colson v. Annucci, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Ronald R. Colson to submit a legible complaint within 30 days or face dismissal without prejudice.
Ronald R. Colson must submit a legible complaint within 30 days to avoid the court’s stated possibility of dismissing the action without prejudice. The order does not resolve his claims against Commissioner Anthony J. Annucci or the other defendants.
What happened
Ronald R. Colson, who is incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility and is representing himself, submitted a complaint against Commissioner Anthony J. Annucci and other defendants. The court could not read the complaint because the ink on the original was too light.
The court ordered Ronald R. Colson to submit a handwritten or typed, legible complaint within 30 days of the order. It provided a prisoner civil-rights complaint form for him to use. If he does not resubmit the complaint, the court said it will dismiss the action without prejudice, meaning he may refile it.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The order did not decide the substance of Ronald R. Colson’s claims.
The detailed version
- Colson v. Annucci · No. 1:23-cv-00766
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 29, 2023
Background
Ronald R. Colson, who is incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, filed a prisoner civil-rights complaint against Commissioner Anthony J. Annucci and other defendants. He was proceeding without a lawyer. The court stated that the ink on the original complaint was too light for the court to read, so it could not review the pleading.
Order
The court directed Ronald R. Colson to resubmit the complaint within 30 days of the order. The replacement complaint may be handwritten or typed but must be legible. The court attached a prisoner civil-rights complaint form.
The court stated that if Ronald R. Colson does not resubmit the complaint, it will dismiss the action without prejudice. The opinion does not decide whether his underlying claims have merit.
Appeal ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fees. The order was dated March 29, 2023.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.