Lewis v. Bentivegna
- Laura Swain
- 7:25-cv-03632
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Lewis v. Bentivegna, Judge Swain ordered incarcerated plaintiff Michael Lewis to pay fees or submit required forms within 30 days.
Michael Lewis, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself; the defendants are not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
In Lewis v. Bentivegna, Michael Lewis filed a civil lawsuit while incarcerated and without a lawyer. He did not pay the required fees or submit completed forms requesting permission to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court ordered Lewis, within 30 days, either to pay $405 or submit the required application and authorization. The case will be processed if he complies; if he does not, the action will be dismissed. The defendants do not have to answer yet.
Judge Swain also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal from this order. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Lewis v. Bentivegna · No. 7:25-cv-03632
- Laura Swain
- May 15, 2025
Background
Michael Lewis, who is incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Required payment or forms
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 the required application and authorization to proceed without prepaying fees. If the court grants that application, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization permits deductions from the account and requires certified account statements for the preceding six months.
Within 30 days of the order, Lewis must either pay the $405 or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-3632 (LTS).
Effect of the order
No answer is required from the defendants at this time. If Lewis complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The order does not decide the underlying claims.
The court also certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order cautioned that certain dismissals of a prisoner's federal action can count as strikes under the prisoner litigation statute.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.