Baldera v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02258
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Baldera v. Doe, Judge Swain ordered Baldera to pay the fees or submit required forms within 30 days.
Frederick Baldera, whose case must satisfy the fee or fee-waiver requirements before it will be processed.
What happened
In Baldera v. Doe, Frederick Baldera filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying them. The order states that Baldera is incarcerated and is representing himself without a lawyer.
The court gave Baldera 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or submit the required application and authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his inmate account.
The court said no summons would issue yet and that the case would be processed if Baldera complied. If he did not comply on time, the action would be dismissed. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Baldera v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-02258
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 20, 2025
Background
Frederick Baldera filed this civil action without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The order states that Baldera is incarcerated at Rikers Island–West Facility Annex and is proceeding without a lawyer.
Fees and required forms
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405—the $350 filing fee and $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and requires certified account statements for the preceding six months.
Order
The court ordered Baldera, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-2258. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures if Baldera complied, but that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed period.
The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the underlying claims in the complaint.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.