Shabazz v. Graham
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-09228
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Shabazz v. Graham, Judge Swain ordered Shabazz to update his address within 30 days or face dismissal without prejudice.
Danny Amen Valentine Shabazz, the self-represented plaintiff, must provide an updated address within 30 days or the action will be dismissed without prejudice; permission to proceed without prepaying court fees for an appeal was denied.
What happened
In Shabazz v. Graham, Danny Amen Valentine Shabazz was proceeding without a lawyer and with permission to proceed without paying court fees. The court said an earlier order dismissing his complaint while allowing him to file an amended complaint was returned as undeliverable because it could not reach his address of record.
The court ordered Shabazz to provide his new address in writing within 30 days. It warned that failing to do so would result in dismissal of the action without prejudice for failing to pursue the case, meaning the dismissal would not bar him from refiling.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Shabazz permission to proceed without paying court fees for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Shabazz v. Graham · No. 1:23-cv-09228
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 1, 2024
Background
Danny Amen Valentine Shabazz is proceeding without a lawyer and with permission to proceed without prepaying court fees. The court had previously dismissed his complaint while allowing him to file a new complaint. That order was mailed to his address of record on February 16, 2024, but the mail was returned as undeliverable on March 27, 2024.
Address-update requirement
The court explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) allows a district court to dismiss an action for failure to prosecute, meaning failure to pursue the case, after notifying the plaintiff. The court ordered Shabazz to provide his new address in writing within 30 days of the order.
The court stated that if Shabazz did not update his address within that period, it would dismiss the action under Rule 41(b) for failure to prosecute, without prejudice. The opinion does not itself dismiss the action; it gives Shabazz the stated 30-day period to update his address.
Appeal
The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying court fees for an appeal.
Disposition
The order requires Shabazz to update his address within 30 days and warns that failure to comply will result in dismissal without prejudice. It also denies permission to proceed without prepaying court fees for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.