Buxbaum v. Town of Clarkstown Police Department
- Philip Halpern
- 7:25-cv-00518
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Buxbaum v. Town of Clarkstown Police Department, Chief Judge Swain required payment or an IFP application before the case could proceed.
Michael Buxbaum must either pay $405 in fees or submit a completed and signed IFP application within 30 days. Until then, the case will not proceed, no summons will issue, and no answer will be required. If he does not comply or request an extension, the action will be dismissed without prejudice to refiling.
What happened
Buxbaum v. Town of Clarkstown Police Department was submitted to the Southern District of New York by email and assigned a docket number. The order did not address the underlying claims.
The court required Michael Buxbaum, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without paying the fees upfront. No further action would be taken, and no summons or answer would be required, until one of those steps occurred.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated that failure to comply, or to request more time, would result in dismissal without prejudice to refiling. She also denied fee-free status for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Buxbaum v. Town of Clarkstown Police Department · No. 7:25-cv-00518
- Philip Halpern
- Jan. 28, 2025
Background
Michael Buxbaum submitted this civil action to the court by email. The order states that a plaintiff must either pay the required fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying them, commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP).
Order
The court directed Buxbaum, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, or complete, sign, and submit the attached IFP application. The court stated that no further action would be taken, and no summons would issue or answer would be required, until the fees were paid or a completed and signed IFP application was received. If the court granted the IFP application, Buxbaum would be permitted to proceed without prepaying the fees.
If Buxbaum did not comply within the permitted time and did not request an extension, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.