Moore v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04536
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Moore v. Doe, Judge Swain ordered John A. Moore to pay $405 or submit forms to seek filing without prepayment, without deciding the case.
John A. Moore, who must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days to continue pursuing the action.
What happened
In Moore v. Doe, John A. Moore filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying them. The order states that he is detained and is representing himself.
The court gave Moore 30 days to either pay $405 or submit the required application and authorization forms. The authorization would allow filing-fee payments to be deducted from his account in installments. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if he complies.
The order warns that the action will be dismissed if Moore does not comply. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Moore v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-04536
- Laura Swain
- June 5, 2025
Background
John A. Moore filed this civil action without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without prepaying the fees. The order states that Moore is detained at the West Facility Annex on Rikers Island and is proceeding without a lawyer.
Filing-fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
Order
The court ordered Moore, within 30 days, to either pay the $405 or submit the application and prisoner-authorization forms, labeled with docket number 25-CV-4536. No summons will issue at this time. If Moore 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.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also cautioned that certain future dismissals of a prisoner's federal civil actions may count as strikes under the applicable statute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.