Clifton v. The State of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-10257
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Clifton v. State of New York, Judge Swain gave Clifton 30 more days to amend his complaint and denied appeal IFP status.
Brandon De’Aundre Clifton, whose deadline to file an amended complaint was extended by 30 days and whose fee-waiver status for an appeal was denied.
What happened
In Clifton v. State of New York, Brandon De’Aundre Clifton was representing himself and had been allowed to proceed without paying court fees. The court had previously ordered him to file an amended complaint and warned that failing to do so could lead to dismissal.
Clifton did not file an amended complaint, but he did file a change-of-address notice. The court gave him an additional 30 days from April 3, 2024, to file the amended complaint.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the action would be dismissed for the reasons given in the earlier order if Clifton did not comply and could not show a good reason for the delay. She also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Clifton v. The State of New York · No. 1:23-cv-10257
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 3, 2024
Background
Brandon De’Aundre Clifton proceeded without a lawyer and had been allowed to proceed without paying court fees. In an order dated January 29, 2024, the court directed him to file an amended complaint and warned that failure to do so could result in dismissal. Clifton had not filed the amended complaint by the date of this order. He had, however, filed a change-of-address notice on March 12, 2024.
Order
The court granted Clifton an additional 30 days from April 3, 2024, to file an amended complaint. The opinion states that, if he failed to comply within that period and could not show good cause for the failure, the court would dismiss the complaint for the reasons stated in the January 29 order. This order did not itself dismiss the action.
Appeal-related ruling
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 Clifton permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.
Classification basis
This is a procedural order because the court extended the deadline for filing an amended complaint and addressed fee status for a possible appeal without deciding the underlying claims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.