Figueroa v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04538
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Figueroa v. Doe, Judge Swain ordered payment or fee-waiver paperwork within 30 days and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Kevin Figueroa must either pay the required fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization within 30 days for the action to proceed.
What happened
Kevin Figueroa filed Figueroa v. Doe while incarcerated and without a lawyer. He submitted a complaint but did not pay the required fees or provide completed paperwork to request permission to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court gave Figueroa 30 days to either pay $405 or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installment payments from his prison account. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action will be dismissed if he does not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not qualify for permission to proceed without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the claims in the complaint.
The detailed version
- Figueroa v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-04538
- Laura Swain
- June 17, 2025
Background
Kevin Figueroa filed this civil action without a lawyer while incarcerated at the Rikers Island – West Facility Annex. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
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 prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the $350 filing fee still must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to send the court certified account statements for the prior six months and to deduct the required payments.
Within 30 days of the order, Figueroa must either pay the $405 or submit the application and authorization, identified with docket number 1:25-CV-4538 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. The court stated that, if Figueroa 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 Effect
The court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. This order addresses filing and payment requirements; it does not decide the merits of Figueroa’s claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.