Williams v. City of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-10807
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Williams v. City of New York, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice after Williams failed to submit an original signature.
Norbert S. Williams, III’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice; the opinion does not identify the underlying claims or discuss any merits determination.
What happened
In Williams v. City of New York, the court had ordered Norbert S. Williams, III, to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days.
Williams did not submit the required signature page. The court’s earlier order warned that failing to do so would lead to dismissal. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice and directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Williams v. City of New York · No. 1:23-cv-10807
- Laura Swain
- May 13, 2024
Background
Norbert S. Williams, III, filed a complaint against the City of New York and other defendants. The opinion does not identify the claims in the complaint.
By an order dated January 2, 2024, the court directed Williams to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. The order warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal. The court stated that Williams did not submit the required signature page.
The court’s footnote states that an earlier mailing of the January 2 order was returned as undeliverable because it was sent to the Vernon C. Bain Center, a now-closed New York City Department of Correction facility. The court later mailed the order to West Facility, the address listed on the envelope in which the complaint was mailed.
Ruling
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. “Without prejudice” means the dismissal does not itself bar a later filing, although the opinion does not address any future filing’s requirements.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to issue judgment and mail the order and judgment to Williams.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.