Cruz v. Department of Corrections

Background

Janice Cruz brought this civil action pro se, meaning without a lawyer. The opinion states that Cruz is detained at the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island. Cruz submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Fees and required forms

The court explained that filing a civil action normally requires $405: a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee. A prisoner who cannot prepay may ask to proceed without prepaying fees by filing a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.

Order

Within 30 days of the order, Cruz must either pay the $405 in fees or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-0369 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Cruz complies, the Clerk's Office will process the case under its procedures. If Cruz does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.

Appeal and classification

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 an appeal. The court also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a filing “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). This order addressed filing requirements and did not reach the merits of Cruz's claims.