Johnson v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04735
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Johnson v. Doe, Judge Swain ordered Larry Johnson to pay fees or submit forms within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Larry Johnson, the incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms for the case to proceed.
What happened
Larry Johnson filed Johnson v. Doe without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to ask to proceed without paying them upfront. The order states that Johnson is incarcerated and representing himself.
The court gave Johnson 30 days to either pay $405 or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installment payments from his prison account. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if he complies.
Judge Swain ordered that the action will be dismissed if Johnson does not comply within the deadline. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-04735
- Laura Swain
- June 17, 2025
Background
Larry Johnson filed a civil action against Doe without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The order states that Johnson is incarcerated at the Rikers Island – West Facility Annex and is proceeding without a lawyer.
What the court required
The court explained that a prisoner 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 the application, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to provide certified account statements for the prior six months and make the required deductions.
Ruling and effect
The court ordered Johnson, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-4735 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Johnson 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. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not address the merits of Johnson's claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.