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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Feb. 2, 2024

Watts v. Brito

Judge
Laura Swain
Docket
1:23-cv-07836
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Motion to DismissCivil Procedure
In one sentence

In Watts v. Brito, Judge Swain dismissed the action, dismissed federal claims for failure to state a claim, and declined state and local claims.

Who this affects

Carlyn Watts’s federal, state, and local claims were affected; the court dismissed the federal claims and declined to consider the state and local claims.

What happened

In Watts v. Brito, the court had given Carlyn Watts 60 days to file an amended complaint and warned that failing to do so would lead to dismissal. Watts did not file an amended complaint.

The court dismissed Watts’s federal-law claims for failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted. It declined to consider the state- and local-law claims under its supplemental jurisdiction.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the clerk to enter judgment dismissing the action. She also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Watts v. Brito · No. 1:23-cv-07836
Judge
Laura Swain
Date
Feb. 2, 2024

Background

By an order dated October 27, 2023, the court gave Carlyn Watts 60 days to file an amended complaint. The court warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal. Watts did not file an amended complaint.

Ruling

The court dismissed the action. It dismissed Watts’s federal-law claims for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). It also declined to consider Watts’s state- and local-law claims under supplemental jurisdiction, which is the court’s authority to hear related state-law claims, under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3).

Appeal and Judgment

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. The court directed the clerk to enter a judgment dismissing the action. The opinion does not state whether the dismissal was with or without prejudice.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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