Collins v. Bronx Criminal Court
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02966
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Collins v. Bronx Criminal Court, Judge Swain ordered Collins to pay filing fees or submit a complete amended request to proceed without upfront payment.
Courtney A. Collins, an incarcerated self-represented plaintiff, must either pay the required fees or submit a complete amended application for the case to proceed. The order also affects the case's defendants because no summons will issue unless Collins complies.
What happened
In Collins v. Bronx Criminal Court, Courtney A. Collins, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action but did not submit a complete application to proceed without paying fees upfront. The application was missing its second page and was unsigned.
The court gave Collins 30 days to either pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit the attached amended application. Collins had already submitted the required authorization for deductions from his prisoner account, but the court explained that, if the application is approved, the $350 filing fee will be collected in installments.
Judge Swain directed that no summons issue yet. If Collins complies, the case will be processed; if he does not, the action will be dismissed. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Collins v. Bronx Criminal Court · No. 1:25-cv-02966
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 10, 2025
Background
Courtney A. Collins, who is incarcerated at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, filed this civil action without a lawyer. The complaint included a prisoner authorization, but the application to proceed without prepaying filing fees was incomplete because its second page was missing and it was unsigned.
Order
The court ordered Collins, within 30 days of the order, to choose one of two options: pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, or submit the attached amended application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court explained that a prisoner whose application is approved must authorize collection of the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner's account. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.
Effect of the Order
No summons will issue at this time. If Collins complies with the order, the Clerk's Office will process the case under its usual procedures. If Collins does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order further warned that a future dismissal for being frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim can count as a strike under the prisoner litigation statute, and that three strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.