Murray v. City of New York H & H
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04734
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Murray v. City of New York H & H, Judge Swain ordered payment or an IFP application and prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Robert Murray, who must either pay the required fees or submit the specified application and prisoner authorization within 30 days to continue the action.
What happened
In Murray v. City of New York H & H, Robert Murray filed a civil lawsuit without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to ask to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court gave Murray 30 days to pay $405 or submit a signed application and authorization allowing filing-fee payments to be deducted from his prison account. No summons would issue yet, and the court said the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the claims in the lawsuit.
The detailed version
- Murray v. City of New York H & H · No. 1:25-cv-04734
- Laura Swain
- June 16, 2025
What the order addressed
Robert Murray filed this civil action without a filing-fee payment, a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Murray was incarcerated at the Rikers Island - George R. Vierno Center and was proceeding without a lawyer. The caption identifies the defendants as the City of New York and others.
Court’s instructions
The court ordered Murray, within 30 days, to do one of two things: pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, or submit the required application and prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee must still be paid in installments deducted from Murray’s prison account. The authorization would also direct the facility to provide certified account statements for the preceding six months and send the required payments to the court.
No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that, if Murray complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal ruling and effect
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order addressed filing requirements and the appeal-fee issue; it did not resolve the merits of Murray’s underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.