Epperson v. United States
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-03087
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Epperson v. United States, Chief Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice after Epperson neither paid filing fees nor requested a fee waiver.
Chris J. Epperson’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required fee-waiver application or pay the $402 filing fee. The court also denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
What happened
In Epperson v. United States, the court gave Chris J. Epperson 30 days to submit an application to waive the filing fee or pay the $402 required to start a civil case.
Epperson did neither. The court’s earlier order warned that failing to comply would lead to dismissal of the complaint.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning it was not permanently barred on this basis. She also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal and directed the clerk to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Epperson v. United States · No. 1:23-cv-03087
- Laura Swain
- June 12, 2023
Background
The court had ordered Chris J. Epperson to submit a completed application to proceed without paying the filing fee, called an IFP application, within 30 days, or to pay the $402 filing fee required for a civil action. The order warned that failing to do so would result in dismissal.
Epperson did not submit the application or pay the fee.
Ruling
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The clerk was directed to enter judgment.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.