Mrabet v. Gurleski

Background

Mounir Mrabet, who was incarcerated at MDC Brooklyn and represented himself, brought this civil action against Mark Gurleski and other defendants. Mrabet 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 $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application and prisoner authorization to request permission to proceed without prepayment. If permission 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 send the court certified account statements for the preceding six months.

Order

The court ordered Mrabet to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay the $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 25-CV-1952 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. If Mrabet failed to comply within the permitted period, the action would be dismissed without prejudice.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied permission to appeal without prepayment of fees. The order additionally cautioned that certain future dismissals could count as strikes under the prisoner-fee statute.