Smith-Burrus v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-04632
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Smith-Burrus v. Commissioner: Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Smith-Burrus neither submitted a complete fee-waiver application nor paid filing fees.
Alfreda Smith-Burrus’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice because she did not submit the required amended fee-waiver application or pay the filing fee. The order did not decide the underlying Social Security claims.
What happened
In Smith-Burrus v. Commissioner of Social Security, the court had ordered Alfreda Smith-Burrus to submit a complete and readable application to waive filing fees or pay the required $402 filing fee within 30 days.
Smith-Burrus did neither. The court therefore dismissed her complaint without prejudice, meaning she may file a new action. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal and entered judgment.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on July 24, 2023. The dismissal was based on failure to follow the court’s filing-fee order, not on a decision about the underlying Social Security case.
The detailed version
- Smith-Burrus v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:23-cv-04632
- Laura Swain
- July 24, 2023
Background
On June 20, 2023, the court directed Plaintiff Alfreda Smith-Burrus to do one of two things within 30 days: submit an amended application to proceed without paying filing fees that was fully and legibly completed, or pay the $402 required to file a civil action.
Court’s Action
Smith-Burrus did not submit an amended application and did not pay the filing fee. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice to Smith-Burrus’s refiling a new action. This disposition addressed compliance with the filing-fee requirement and did not decide the underlying Social Security claims.
The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal. The court ordered that judgment enter. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.