Gaddy v. Sullivan County Jail Administrator and Medical Dept.
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-04243
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Gaddy v. Sullivan County Jail: Judge Swain ordered payment or an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days.
Robert K. Gaddy, who must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Gaddy v. Sullivan County Jail Administrator and Medical Dept., Robert K. Gaddy filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without prepaying them. The order states that Gaddy is incarcerated and is representing himself.
The court ordered Gaddy, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. That authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his account. No answer from the defendants was required at that time.
If Gaddy complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he does not, the action will be dismissed. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Gaddy v. Sullivan County Jail Administrator and Medical Dept. · No. 1:24-cv-04243
- Laura Swain
- June 4, 2024
Background
Robert K. Gaddy filed a civil action against Sullivan County Jail Administrator and Medical Dept., et al. The opinion states that Gaddy is currently incarcerated at Sullivan County Jail and is proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without completing an application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Required payment or application
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405—the $350 filing fee plus a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that status.
Order
The court ordered Gaddy to take one of those two steps within 30 days of the order. If he submits the forms, they must identify docket number 24-CV-4243. The court stated that no answer was required at that time; if Gaddy complies, the case will proceed under the Clerk’s Office procedures, and if he fails to comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.