Carter v. Jenkins
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-10326
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Carter v. Jenkins, Judge Swain granted Carter’s request for a final order, directed judgment, and denied fee-free appeal status.
Plaintiff Darryl Chadwich Carter and defendants Gary Jenkins, Urban Pathways Incl, Leslie Segars, and Ms. Johnson; the order directed entry of judgment and terminated any remaining motions.
What happened
Carter v. Jenkins involved Darryl Chadwich Carter’s request to make an earlier order final. That earlier order had dismissed his amended complaint for failure to state a claim but allowed him 30 days to file another amended complaint.
Carter then asked the court to “convert” the earlier order into a final order. He also filed a notice of appeal, but the court determined that the appeal was defective because the earlier order was not final and had not been approved for an immediate appeal.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted Carter’s motion only to the extent he requested entry of a final order. She directed the Clerk to enter judgment, terminate any remaining motions, and denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Carter v. Jenkins · No. 1:22-cv-10326
- Laura Swain
- July 25, 2023
Background
On July 6, 2023, the court dismissed Plaintiff Darryl Chadwich Carter’s amended complaint, which had been filed without paying the filing fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). The dismissal was based on failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). The court gave Carter 30 days to file a second amended complaint.
On July 10, 2023, Carter filed a motion asking the court to “convert” the July 6 order into a final order. After filing that motion, he also filed a notice of appeal.
Court’s analysis
The court explained that a notice of appeal ordinarily transfers control over the appealed matters to the appeals court. But the court concluded that this rule did not apply because Carter was attempting to appeal from a nonfinal order that had not been certified for an immediate appeal. The court therefore retained jurisdiction over the action.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted Carter’s motion to the extent he was asking the court to enter a final order. The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment in the action and to terminate any remaining motions.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied Carter permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.