White v. Ezekwe
- Philip Halpern
- 7:22-cv-04451
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In White v. Ezekwe, Judge Halpern granted the motion to dismiss, dismissed the complaint with prejudice, and denied fee-free appeal status.
The plaintiff, Frank W. White Jr., whose claims were dismissed with prejudice and whose permission to appeal without paying filing fees was denied; the defendant, Felix Ikeshukwu Ezekwe, whose motion to dismiss was granted.
What happened
In White v. Ezekwe, the defendant moved to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint. Before the motion, the parties exchanged letters about alleged pleading deficiencies, and the plaintiff said he intended to stand on his complaint.
The court had expressly allowed the plaintiff to amend, but he chose not to do so. The court concluded that amendment would be futile and dismissed the claims with prejudice, meaning they could not be refiled in an amended complaint.
Judge Philip Halpern also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied the plaintiff permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The case was closed.
The detailed version
- White v. Ezekwe · No. 7:22-cv-04451
- Philip Halpern
- Dec. 11, 2023
Background
The judgment states that the defendant filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint. Before the motion practice, the parties exchanged letters about deficiencies that the defendant identified in the pleading. The plaintiff advised the defendant that he intended to stand on his pleading.
Amendment
The court expressly gave the plaintiff an opportunity to amend the complaint, but he elected not to do so. The court stated that leave to amend was unnecessary because any amendment would be futile.
Ruling
The court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss. It dismissed the claims alleged in the complaint with prejudice because amendment would be futile. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the Opinion and Order would not be taken in good faith. As a result, it denied the plaintiff permission to appeal without paying the required filing fees, and the case was closed.
Scope of the provided text
The judgment refers to an Opinion and Order dated December 11, 2023, but that underlying opinion is not included here. The provided text therefore does not state the specific claims or substantive reasons supporting dismissal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.