Owner/Agent @dudeofnewyork v. The Unified Court System of The State of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-05929
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Owner/Agent@DudeofNewYork v. Unified Court System, Chief Judge Swain ordered payment or an application to proceed without fees.
The pro se plaintiff must either pay the $405 in court fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. The case may be dismissed if the plaintiff does not comply; the defendant was not yet required to respond.
What happened
In Owner/Agent@DudeofNewYork v. The Unified Court System of the State of New York, the plaintiff filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court gave the plaintiff 30 days to pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if the plaintiff complies. If the plaintiff does not comply, the action will be dismissed.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not address the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Owner/Agent @dudeofnewyork v. The Unified Court System of The State of New York · No. 1:24-cv-05929
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 8, 2024
Background
The plaintiff brought this action without a lawyer. Federal law requires a civil plaintiff either to pay the required court fees or to submit a signed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees.
The plaintiff submitted the complaint without paying the $405 in fees or submitting an IFP application. The court stated that the $405 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee.
Order
The court ordered the plaintiff, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $405 in fees or to submit the attached signed IFP application. If the court grants the IFP application, the plaintiff may proceed without prepaying fees. No summons will issue at this time.
If the plaintiff complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If the plaintiff does not comply within the permitted time, the action will be dismissed. The order did not decide the merits of the plaintiff’s claims.
Appeal
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.