Perkins Jr. v. Lopez
- Laura Swain
- 7:25-cv-03955
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Perkins Jr. v. Lopez, Judge Swain ordered the incarcerated plaintiff to pay fees or submit the correct authorization before the case proceeds.
Timmy L. Perkins Jr. must either pay the required fees or submit the correct prisoner authorization within 30 days for the action to proceed; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Perkins Jr. v. Lopez, Timmy L. Perkins Jr., who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront, but he used the wrong prisoner authorization form for this court.
The court gave him 30 days from May 16, 2025, to either pay $405 in fees or complete and submit the attached authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account and provide the court with certified account statements.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no summons issue yet. She said the case would proceed through the Clerk’s Office if Perkins complies, but the action will be dismissed if he does not. She also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Perkins Jr. v. Lopez · No. 7:25-cv-03955
- Laura Swain
- May 16, 2025
Background
Timmy L. Perkins Jr. filed this civil action while incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility and is representing himself. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, but he submitted the wrong prisoner authorization form for the Southern District of New York.
Court’s order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit the documents required to request permission to proceed without prepayment. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account.
Within 30 days of the order, Perkins must either pay the $405 or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. That authorization directs the correctional facility to provide certified copies of his prison-account statements for the preceding six months and deduct installment payments from his account. The court instructed him to label the authorization with docket number 25-CV-3995 (LTS).
No summons will issue at this time. If Perkins complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain entered an order directing Perkins to pay the required fees or submit the correct prisoner authorization. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims in the civil action.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.