Jeanty v. VanHorn
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-00823
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Jeanty v. VanHorn, Judge Swain ordered Kervin R. Jeanty to pay filing fees or submit a prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Kervin R. Jeanty and the processing of his civil action; the order requires him to pay the fees or submit the prisoner authorization before the case proceeds.
What happened
In Jeanty v. VanHorn, Kervin R. Jeanty, who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court gave Jeanty 30 days from January 31, 2025, to either pay $405 in fees or complete and submit the attached authorization. The authorization would allow installment deductions from his prisoner account and provide the court with certified account statements for the previous six months.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no summons issue yet. She stated that the case would be processed if Jeanty complied and would be dismissed if he did not; she also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Jeanty v. VanHorn · No. 1:25-cv-00823
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 31, 2025
Background
Kervin R. Jeanty, who is incarcerated at Gouverneur Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Required Filing or Payment
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405—the $350 filing fee and $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the fee-waiver application, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the facility to deduct those payments and send certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Within 30 days of the order, Jeanty must either pay the $405 or complete and submit the prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-0823 (LTS).
Court's Action
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no summons issue at that time. The court stated that, if Jeanty complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified 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 order did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.