Usman v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02263
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Usman v. Doe, Judge Swain ordered Shahab Usman to pay fees or submit required forms within 30 days, or face dismissal without prejudice.
Shahab Usman, an incarcerated person representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the required forms within 30 days to avoid dismissal without prejudice; the defendant was not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
In Usman v. Doe, Shahab Usman filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without paying them upfront. The order says he is incarcerated and representing himself.
The court gave Usman 30 days from March 28, 2025, to either pay $405 or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installment payments from his account. No response from the defendant was required at that time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the case would be processed if Usman complied, but would be dismissed without prejudice if he did not. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Usman v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-02263
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 28, 2025
Background
Shahab Usman filed this civil action without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or the required prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Usman is incarcerated at West Facility Annex and is representing himself.
Required payment or forms
The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $55 for the administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.
Usman was ordered, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the required application and authorization. Any submitted documents were to identify docket number 25-CV-2263 (LTS).
Ruling and effect
The court stated that no answer from the defendant was required at that time. If Usman complied with the order, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. The order additionally cautioned that certain dismissals of prisoner actions can count as strikes under the federal prisoner-filing-fee statute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.