Zafar v. New York Police Department
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-02227
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Zafar v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Judge Swain dismissed claims against the federal bureau and New York Police Department for failure to state a claim and immunity.
Adeel Zafar, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the New York Police Department; any state-law claims Zafar may have asserted were also affected because the court declined supplemental jurisdiction.
What happened
In Adeel Zafar v. Federal Bureau of Investigation and New York Police Department, Zafar was representing himself and had been allowed to proceed without paying filing fees. The court had previously dismissed his complaint but allowed him 60 days to file an amended complaint.
Zafar did not file an amended complaint or otherwise contact the court. The court therefore dismissed his claims for failure to state a claim for which relief could be granted and on immunity grounds. It also declined to consider any state-law claims under its supplemental jurisdiction.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. She also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Zafar permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Zafar v. New York Police Department · No. 1:23-cv-02227
- Laura Swain
- June 27, 2023
Background
Adeel Zafar proceeded without a lawyer and was allowed to proceed without paying court filing fees. He filed a complaint invoking the court’s jurisdiction over federal-question claims. The opinion does not describe the specific claims or factual allegations.
Earlier dismissal and opportunity to amend
In an order dated April 17, 2023, the court dismissed Zafar’s complaint for failure to state a claim for which relief could be granted and on immunity grounds. The court gave him permission to file an amended complaint and stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not do so within 60 days.
Zafar did not file an amended complaint and did not otherwise communicate with the court.
Ruling
The court dismissed Zafar’s claims for failure to state a claim for which relief could be granted and on immunity grounds. The court also declined, under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c), to exercise supplemental jurisdiction—authority to hear related state-law claims—over any state-law claims Zafar may have been asserting.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.