Patillo v. Doe

Background

Damon Patillo filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion identifies Patillo as detained at the Wet Facility Annex on Rikers Island and as representing himself. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims against Doe.

Required Filing or Payment

The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $405—$350 for the filing fee and $55 for the administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the detention facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months.

Within 30 days of the order, Patillo was required to pay the $405 or submit the attached application and authorization forms, labeled with docket number 25-CV-4520 (LTS). The court stated that no summons would issue at that time. If Patillo complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the deadline, the action would be dismissed.

Other Rulings and Effect

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order also cautioned that certain future dismissals of prisoner civil actions could count as strikes under the prisoner litigation statute. This order addressed filing-fee and authorization requirements; it did not decide the merits of Patillo’s underlying claims.