Evans v. Yonkers Police Department

Background

Ivan N. Evans filed this civil action while incarcerated at Westchester County Department of Corrections and representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Court’s order

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405—the $350 filing fee plus a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Evans had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to provide certified account statements for the previous six months.

The court gave Evans 30 days from the date of the order to pay the $405 or submit the application and authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-3965 (LTS). The court stated that no answer was required at that time and that, if Evans complied, 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.

Appeal and additional warning

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The attached materials also warned that certain dismissals of prisoner actions can count as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which can limit a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees after three such strikes, subject to the statutory exception for imminent danger of serious physical injury.