Decatus v. The People of the State of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-03643
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Decatus v. The People, Chief Judge Swain dismissed the action without prejudice because Decatus neither paid the fees nor filed a fee-waiver request.
Vanessa Decatus's civil action against The People of the State of New York was dismissed without prejudice; fee-waiver status for an appeal was also denied.
What happened
In Decatus v. The People of the State of New York, Vanessa Decatus, acting as trustee for the Vanessa Decatus Trust/Estate, filed a civil action.
The court had ordered Decatus to either pay the $402 civil filing fee or submit a request to proceed without paying the fee. She did neither within the required 30 days.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Decatus v. The People of the State of New York · No. 1:23-cv-03643
- Laura Swain
- June 8, 2023
Background
Vanessa Decatus, as trustee for the Vanessa Decatus Trust/Estate, brought this civil action against The People of the State of New York. The opinion does not address the merits of the claims.
Decatus initially filed the matter as a miscellaneous case and paid the $49 fee for that type of filing. Judge Valerie Caproni later determined that the matter could not proceed under the miscellaneous docket and directed that it be opened as a new civil action. The court directed the Clerk of Court to return the $49 fee, and $49 was disbursed to Decatus on May 12, 2023.
Fee requirement
By an order dated May 4, 2023, the court directed Decatus, within 30 days, either to submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees or to pay the $402 fee required to file a civil action. The order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal. Decatus did not submit the application or pay the fee.
Ruling
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. It also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.