Torres v. Garcia
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-01678
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Torres v. Garcia, Judge Swain ordered Torres to pay the filing fees or submit a complete application to proceed without paying them.
Nelson E. Torres must either pay the $405 in fees or submit a complete amended application within 30 days; the action will be dismissed if he does not comply. Fernando Garcia and Sandy Garcia are not yet subject to service because no summons has issued.
What happened
In Torres v. Garcia, Nelson E. Torres filed the action without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying court fees. His application was incomplete and did not show whether he had income or how he paid living expenses.
The court gave Torres 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or submit an amended application with facts showing he could not afford them. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed only if he follows the order.
If Torres does not comply on time, the action will be dismissed. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not qualify for fee-free status because it would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Torres v. Garcia · No. 1:25-cv-01678
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 7, 2025
Background
Nelson E. Torres brought this civil action without a lawyer against Fernando Garcia and Sandy Garcia. To proceed in federal court, Torres had to pay $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. This type of application is commonly called an application to proceed without payment of fees.
Torres submitted such an application, but he left parts incomplete. He did not state whether he had any income or explain how he paid his living expenses, and he gave no answers to questions four through eight. The court therefore could not determine from the application whether he was unable to afford the fees.
Order
The court ordered Torres, within 30 days of April 7, 2025, to do one of two things: pay the $405 in fees or submit an amended application. The amended application must use docket number 25-CV-1678 (LTS) and provide facts addressing the identified deficiencies. If the court grants the amended application, Torres may proceed without paying the fees in advance.
No summons will issue at this time. If Torres complies with the order, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.