Cruz v. King
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-05068
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Cruz v. King, Judge Swain ordered Cruz to pay the $5 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepaying it.
Steven Cruz, the self-represented petitioner, must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
Cruz v. King concerns a habeas petition filed by Steven Cruz, who is representing himself. The court said Cruz submitted the petition without paying the required $5 filing fee or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying court fees.
The court gave Cruz 30 days from July 5, 2024, to pay the fee or submit a signed fee-waiver application. No response from the respondent was required at that time. If Cruz complies, the case will proceed through the Clerk’s Office; if he does not, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the substance of Cruz’s habeas petition.
The detailed version
- Cruz v. King · No. 1:24-cv-05068
- Laura Swain
- July 5, 2024
Background
Steven Cruz, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against Warden M.J. King. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims or the relief Cruz seeks. Cruz submitted the petition without the required $5 filing fee and without an application to proceed without prepaying court fees.
Court’s Order
The court ordered Cruz, within 30 days of July 5, 2024, to do one of two things: pay the $5 filing fee, or complete and submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees. The application had to be signed and labeled with docket number 24-CV-5068. The court explained that, if the application were granted, Cruz could proceed without paying the fees in advance.
The court did not require an answer from Warden King at that time. It stated that, if Cruz complied with the order, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office’s procedures. If Cruz failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order addressed the filing-fee requirement and did not reach the merits of Cruz’s habeas petition.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.