Gonzalez v. United States
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-08260
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Gonzalez v. United States, Judge Swain ordered Thomas Gonzalez to pay filing fees or submit prisoner forms within 30 days before the case proceeds.
Thomas Gonzalez, who is incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer. The order requires him to pay the fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Gonzalez v. United States, Thomas Gonzalez filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the paperwork needed to proceed without prepaying them. The opinion says he is incarcerated and is representing himself.
The court gave Gonzalez 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account and require certified account statements. If he does not comply, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also stated that no summons was required at that time and denied fee-free status for any appeal from the order. If Gonzalez complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures.
The detailed version
- Gonzalez v. United States · No. 1:24-cv-08260
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 4, 2025
Background
Thomas Gonzalez brought this civil action while incarcerated at the Columbia Correctional Institution Annex and without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Required Filing Options
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. A prisoner seeking that permission must submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If the application is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the facility to deduct those payments and send the court certified copies of account statements for the preceding six months.
Order
The court ordered Gonzalez, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or submit the application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 1:24-CV-8260 (LTS). No summons was required at that time. If Gonzalez 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. Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.