Hernandez v. Capra
- Laura Swain
- 7:25-cv-02621
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Hernandez v. Capra, Judge Swain ordered the incarcerated plaintiff to pay fees or submit forms within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Anthony Hernandez must either pay the required fees or submit the required IFP application and prisoner authorization within 30 days; otherwise, his action will be dismissed. The order also affects any appeal by denying permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
What happened
In Hernandez v. Capra, Anthony Hernandez, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the required forms.
The court gave Hernandez 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow filing-fee payments to be deducted from his prison account in installments. The court said the action will be dismissed if he does not comply, and no summons would issue at that time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order did not address the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Hernandez v. Capra · No. 7:25-cv-02621
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 4, 2025
Background
Anthony Hernandez filed this civil action without paying the filing fees or submitting a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees. The order states that Hernandez is incarcerated at Wende Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer.
Court’s Requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit a signed IFP application and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants IFP status, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization permits the facility to deduct those amounts and requires certified account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Hernandez, within 30 days of April 4, 2025, to either pay the $405 or submit the IFP application and prisoner authorization. The documents were to identify docket number 1:25-CV-2621 (LTS). The court stated that no summons would issue at that time and that, if Hernandez complied, the case would be processed through the Clerk’s Office. If he did not comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Other Rulings and Effect
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Hernandez’s claims. It also warned that a later dismissal for being frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner-filing statute.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.