In re: Derick Castellano

Background

Derick Castellano filed a civil action without a lawyer while incarcerated at Rikers Island–Rose M. Singer Enhanced Supervised Housing. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application, or a prisoner authorization.

Court’s Requirements

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—the $350 filing fee plus a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. A prisoner seeking that permission must submit a signed IFP application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits the facility holding the prisoner to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner’s account in installments and to send the court certified account statements for the previous six months.

Within 30 days of the order, Castellano was required to pay the $405 or submit the completed IFP application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-4526 (LTS). The order also cautioned that certain dismissals of prisoner cases can count as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).

Disposition

The court ordered compliance with the payment-or-application requirement and directed that no summons issue at that time. It stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Castellano complied and that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not decide the merits of the underlying civil claims in this order.