Montague v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04542
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Montague v. Doe, Judge Swain ordered Montague to pay fees or submit forms within 30 days before the case proceeds.
Anthony Montague is required to pay the fees or submit the required IFP application and prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
Montague v. Doe was brought by Anthony Montague, who is incarcerated and is representing himself. He filed the complaint without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court ordered Montague, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The court did not issue a summons and said the action will be dismissed if he does not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order, certifying that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Montague v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-04542
- Laura Swain
- June 17, 2025
Background
Anthony Montague filed this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he is 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, known as an IFP application, or a prisoner authorization.
Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $55 for the administrative fee—or request IFP status. If IFP status is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and requires certified account statements for the previous six months to be sent to the court.
Within 30 days of the order, Montague must either pay the $405 or submit the attached IFP application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-4542. No summons will issue at this time. If Montague complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Other Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order does not address the substance of Montague’s underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.