Moreira v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:24-cv-05043
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Moreira v. Commissioner of Social Security, Judge Swain ordered payment or a fee-waiver application before the case could proceed.
Aileen J. Moreira must either pay the $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without paying them in advance within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
Aileen J. Moreira filed this Social Security case without paying the required $405 in fees and without submitting an application to proceed without paying fees upfront. The order did not address the underlying dispute.
The court gave Moreira 30 days to either pay the fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying them. No summons would issue at that time, and the case would be processed if she complied.
Judge Swain stated that failure to comply would result in dismissal and denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from the order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Moreira v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:24-cv-05043
- Vernon Broderick
- July 3, 2024
Background
Aileen J. Moreira brought this action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without the required filing and administrative fees and without an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without paying court fees in advance.
Order
The court ordered Moreira, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, or submit a signed IFP application. If the court grants the application, Moreira may proceed without paying the fees in advance. The application should identify docket number 24-CV-5043 (LTS).
The court directed that no summons issue at that time. If Moreira complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If she does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal-fee ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order as Chief United States District Judge. The order did not decide the merits of Moreira’s underlying Social Security case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.