Jones v. Roth
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-00499
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Jones v. Roth, Judge Swain dismissed this duplicate action without prejudice and ordered its complaint docketed in an earlier related case.
Theryn Rashid Jones’s newly opened action was dismissed without prejudice, while his submission was directed to be treated as an amended complaint in the earlier related case. He was not charged the filing fee for this action, but payment-free status was denied for any appeal.
What happened
In Jones v. Roth, the court received a submission labeled as an amended complaint, but it had been opened as a new case even though an earlier related case was pending. The court believed the submission should have been filed in that earlier case.
The court dismissed this action, No. 24-CV-0499, as opened in error and directed the Clerk of Court to docket the complaint as an amended complaint in No. 23-CV-9831. The dismissal was without prejudice to Plaintiff litigating his claims in the earlier case. The court also ordered that Plaintiff not be charged the filing fee for this action.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain entered judgment dismissing the action and stated that an appeal would not be taken in good faith, so payment-free status was denied for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Jones v. Roth · No. 1:24-cv-00499
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 25, 2024
Background
The court received Plaintiff’s submission on January 22, 2024. The submission was labeled with the case number for an earlier related case, No. 23-CV-9831, and described as an amended complaint. The court had dismissed the complaint in that earlier case on January 2, 2024, while allowing Plaintiff to file an amended complaint.
After reviewing the submission, the court believed this new action had been opened in error and that the submission should have been docketed as an amended complaint in the earlier related case.
Ruling
The court dismissed this action, No. 24-CV-0499 (LTS), as opened in error. The dismissal was without prejudice to Plaintiff litigating his claims in No. 23-CV-9831. The court directed the Clerk of Court to docket the submission, ECF 1, as an amended complaint in that earlier case.
Fees and Appeal
Because the court believed Plaintiff may have submitted the duplicate complaint in error, it directed the Clerk of Court not to charge the $350 filing fee for this action. It also directed that funds not be deducted from or encumbered in Plaintiff’s prison trust account for this lawsuit.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied payment-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing this action as opened in error and without prejudice to Plaintiff’s claims in No. 23-CV-9831.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.