In re: Ricky Cavener

Background

Ricky Cavener filed a civil action while incarcerated at the Rikers Island – West Facility Annex and is proceeding without a lawyer. The opinion does not identify the defendants or describe the underlying claims. Cavener submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

The court’s order

The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit the required application and authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Within 30 days of the order, Cavener must either pay the $405 or submit the completed application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-4724 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Cavener 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.

Appeal and other notices

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order also cautioned that certain future dismissals of prisoner cases may count as strikes under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), but this order does not state that the current action has received a strike.