Felice v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04533
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Felice v. Doe, Judge Swain ordered a prisoner to pay $405 or submit forms within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Phillipe Felice, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Felice v. Doe, Phillipe Felice filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront. The opinion states that Felice is incarcerated and representing himself.
The court ordered Felice, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or to submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account.
No summons will issue at this time, and the action will be dismissed if Felice does not comply. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Felice v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-04533
- Laura Swain
- June 10, 2025
Background
Phillipe Felice filed this civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Felice is incarcerated at Rikers Island – West Facility Annex and is proceeding without a lawyer.
Required filing steps
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 request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. A prisoner seeking that permission must submit a signed application and an authorization directing the correctional facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prison account in installments. The court also explained that the prisoner must provide certified account statements covering the preceding six months.
Order
The court ordered Felice to do one of the following within 30 days of June 10, 2025: pay the $405 in fees, or submit the application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-4533 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Felice 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.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order addresses payment and filing requirements and does not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.