Johnson v. Regional Supplemental Services Inc.
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:24-cv-05534
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Johnson v. Regional Supllemental Services, Judge Swain ordered payment or an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days before the case could proceed.
William Douglas Johnson, III, whose case could proceed only after he paid the required fees or submitted the required application within 30 days; the order also affected any attempted appeal by denying permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
What happened
In Johnson v. Regional Supllemental Services Inc., William Douglas Johnson, III filed a civil action without a lawyer but did not pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court ordered Johnson to pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. No summons would issue while that requirement remained unresolved.
If Johnson did not comply on time, the action would be dismissed. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. Regional Supplemental Services Inc. · No. 7:24-cv-05534
- Cathy Seibel
- Aug. 7, 2024
Background
William Douglas Johnson, III brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted a complaint but did not pay the required filing fees and did not submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court explained that starting a civil action in the Southern District of New York requires either payment of $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees. The court gave Johnson 30 days from the date of the order to make that choice. If he submitted the application, it had to identify docket number 24-CV-5534 (LTS). The court did not decide whether the application should be granted.
No summons would issue at that time. If Johnson complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal-related ruling
The court certified under federal law that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.