Mathew v. New York City Department of Education
- Gregory Woods
- 1:24-cv-08727
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Mathew v. New York City Department of Education, Judge Swain ordered Susy A. Mathew to pay fees or request permission to proceed without prepaying them within 30 days.
Susy A. Mathew and the pending action; the case was conditioned on payment of the required fees or submission of an IFP application.
What happened
In Mathew v. New York City Department of Education, Susy A. Mathew filed the case without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court ordered her, within 30 days, either to pay $405 or submit a signed application showing that she cannot prepay the fees. The court said no summons would issue yet, and warned that the action would be dismissed if she did not comply.
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 detailed version
- Mathew v. New York City Department of Education · No. 1:24-cv-08727
- Gregory Woods
- Nov. 25, 2024
Background
Susy A. Mathew brought this action without a lawyer. She submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
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 submission of a signed IFP application. The court ordered Mathew to do one of those things within 30 days of the order. If she submitted the application, it had to include docket number 24-CV-8727 (LTS). If the court granted the application, she would be allowed to proceed without paying the fees in advance.
No summons would issue at that time. The case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Mathew complied. If she did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal-related ruling
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. The order did not address the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.