Rivers v. Multacom Corporation
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-05585
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Rivers v. Multacom Corporation, Judge Swain ordered Rivers to pay filing fees or submit authorization before the case proceeds.
Maurice D. Rivers must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days for the case to proceed. The action will be dismissed if he does not comply on time.
What happened
In Maurice D. Rivers v. Multacom Corporation, Rivers, who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Rivers, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit the completed prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account; the $55 administrative fee does not apply if the court grants permission to proceed without prepayment. No summons will issue yet, and the action will be dismissed if Rivers does not comply on time.
The order was issued by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain. The court also denied permission to proceed without prepayment of fees for any appeal from this order, certifying that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Rivers v. Multacom Corporation · No. 1:24-cv-05585
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 7, 2024
Background
Maurice D. Rivers, who is incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, filed this civil action. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting a signed application and a 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 permission to proceed without prepayment.
The court ordered Rivers, within 30 days of August 7, 2024, either to pay the $405 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 24-CV-5585 (LTS). The authorization directs the facility holding Rivers to provide certified account statements for the prior six months and deduct the required installments from his prison account. No summons will issue at this time. If Rivers complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Additional Ruling
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order did not address the merits of Rivers’s underlying claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.