Alexander v. The City of New York
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:25-cv-00284
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Alexander v. The City of New York, Judge Swain ordered Zion Alexander to pay filing fees or submit forms, or face dismissal.
Zion Alexander, who must either pay the required filing fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
Alexander v. The City of New York concerns Zion Alexander’s complaint, which he filed without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying upfront. The opinion says Alexander is incarcerated and is representing himself.
The court gave Alexander 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account. No summons will issue yet, and the court said the action will be dismissed if he does not comply within the deadline.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying appeal fees. This is a procedural order about filing fees and required forms; it does not decide the claims in the complaint.
The detailed version
- Alexander v. The City of New York · No. 1:25-cv-00284
- Ronnie Abrams
- Jan. 17, 2025
Background
Zion Alexander filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Alexander is incarcerated at Otis Bantum Correctional Center and is proceeding without a lawyer.
Filing-fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment. A prisoner requesting that permission must submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization also directs the correctional facility to provide certified account statements for the previous six months and deduct the required payments.
Order
Within 30 days of the order, Alexander must pay the $405 in fees or submit the application and authorization, labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-0284 (LTS). The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. It stated that the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Alexander complies and will be dismissed if he does not comply within the allowed period.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order does not decide the merits of Alexander’s underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.