Evans v. Santa
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-00626
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Evans v. Santa, Judge Swain dismissed Evans’s complaint after he failed to file the required amended complaint.
James Earl Evans, whose complaint was dismissed and whose fee-free status for an appeal was denied; the opinion does not describe any separate effect on Case Manager Lyndsay Santa or Case Worker Brooke Livingston.
What happened
In Evans v. Santa, the court had ordered James Earl Evans to file an amended complaint within 60 days and warned that failing to do so would result in dismissal. Evans did not file an amended complaint.
The court dismissed the complaint under the federal statute governing certain complaints filed without prepaying court fees. It also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Evans permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on July 28, 2023. The opinion does not state the claims Evans asserted or why the court had previously required an amended complaint.
The detailed version
- Evans v. Santa · No. 1:23-cv-00626
- Laura Swain
- July 28, 2023
Background
James Earl Evans sued Case Manager Lyndsay Santa and Case Worker Brooke Livingston. The court had previously ordered Evans, on May 8, 2023, to file an amended complaint within 60 days. The order warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal. Evans did not file an amended complaint.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). The opinion states that the complaint had been filed without prepaying the filing fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). It does not state the underlying claims or provide a merits decision on them.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. As a result, it denied permission to appeal without prepaying the appellate filing fees. The order does not describe the dismissal as with or without prejudice.
Effect
The complaint was dismissed, and Evans was denied fee-free status for an appeal. The opinion does not state any separate ruling concerning Santa or Livingston.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.