SHEETS
v.
WOELK
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A pro se plaintiff challenged the district court's dismissal of his complaint for failure to pay the filing fee or seek in forma pauperis status. The court denied his motion for reconsideration, holding that he presented no extraordinary circumstances warranting revision of the dismissal order.
The court held that Sheets presented no extraordinary circumstances warranting reconsideration. The fact that he had been permitted to break procedural rules in other cases was of no consequence, and his characterization of the dismissal as procedurally irregular or a manifest injustice did not overcome the requirement that he either pay the filing fee or move to proceed in forma pauperis.
“Reconsideration of a prior order is an extraordinary measure that should be applied sparingly.”
Establishes the high bar for motions for reconsideration under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e)
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAndrew Sheets, a pro se plaintiff, filed a complaint against Matthew Woelk and the City of Punta Gorda. The district court dismissed the complaint wit…
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The Court dismissed pro se Plaintiff Andrew Sheets' complaint without prejudice for failure to pay the filing fee or move to proceed without prepayment of costs. (Doc. 2). Plaintiff now moves the Court to reconsider its dismissal and reinstate his case under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e). (Doc. 4).
Reconsideration of a prior order is an extraordinary measure that should be applied sparingly. Adams v. Beoneman, 335 F.R.D. 452, 454 (M.D. Fla. 2020). Court orders are not intended as first drafts subject to revisions at a litigant's pleasure, so a movant must establish extraordinary circumstances supporting reconsideration. Gold Cross EMS, Inc. v. Children's Hosp. of Ala., 108 F. Supp. 3d 1376, 1384 (S.D. Ga. 2015). “A motion for reconsideration should raise new issues, not merely readdress issues previously litigated."
PaineWebber Income Props. v. Mobil Oil Corp., 902 F. Supp. 1514, 1521 (M.D. Fla. 1995).
Plaintiff presents no extraordinary circumstances warranting reconsideration. He claims the dismissal is procedurally “irregular" because in other cases, he consistently waits to pay the filing fee or file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. That he has been permitted to break the rules in other cases is of no consequence. Further, he describes the dismissal as a "manifest injustice” and “denial of access” because the Court “rigidly" applied "purely administrative” procedure. But at the end of the day, the Court dismissed Plaintiffs case for failure to pay the filing fee or move to proceed in forma pauperis—a problem of Plaintiffs own making. And in its prior Order, the Court advised Plaintiff that if he wants to proceed with his claims, he may file another complaint under a separate case number.
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED:
Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration (Doc. 4) is DENIED.
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on July 14, 2025.
Sheri Polster Chappell
SHERI POLSTER CHAPPELL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Copies: All Parties of Record
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- PaineWebber Income Props. Three Ltd. P'ship Ex Rel. Third Income Props., Inc. v. Mobil Oil Corp., 902 F. Supp. 1514 (M.D. Fla. 1995)
- Sheets v. City of Punta Gorda (M.D. Fla. 2026)