Zuleta v. Krom
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-07225
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Zuleta v. Krom, Judge Swain granted Zuleta’s motion to voluntarily dismiss the action.
Hector Munoz-Zuleta, who voluntarily ended his federal action; the case was closed, and fee-free status was denied for any appeal.
What happened
In Zuleta v. Krom, Hector Munoz-Zuleta filed the case without a lawyer while incarcerated at Sullivan Correctional Facility. He asked to proceed without paying filing fees but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court had ordered him either to pay the $402 filing fee or submit the authorization. He did neither, and then asked to dismiss the case.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted his motion and voluntarily dismissed the action under a federal rule allowing a plaintiff to end a case. The court closed the case and denied fee-free status for any appeal.
The detailed version
- Zuleta v. Krom · No. 1:23-cv-07225
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 31, 2023
Background
Hector Munoz-Zuleta filed this action without a lawyer on August 14, 2023. The opinion states that he was incarcerated at Sullivan Correctional Facility. He requested permission to proceed without prepaying filing fees but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
On August 18, 2023, the court ordered Munoz-Zuleta either to pay the $402 filing fee or submit a completed and signed prisoner authorization within 30 days. He did not do either.
Motion and Ruling
On August 29, 2023, Munoz-Zuleta filed a motion asking to dismiss the action. The court granted the motion. It dismissed the action voluntarily under Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and closed the case.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Disposition
The plaintiff’s motion was granted. The action was voluntarily dismissed under Rule 41(a). The opinion does not state that the dismissal was with or without prejudice.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.