Mouscardy v. Rickard
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04966
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Mouscardy v. Rickard, Judge Swain ordered Mouscardy to pay the filing fee or submit a fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Reginald Mouscardy, the petitioner proceeding without a lawyer, must pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed fee-waiver application within 30 days or the action will be dismissed.
What happened
Reginald Mouscardy filed a petition against Warden E. Rickard without paying the required $5 filing fee or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court gave Mouscardy 30 days to pay the fee or submit a signed fee-waiver application. No summons will issue yet, and the action will be dismissed if he does not comply. If he submits the application and the court approves it, he may proceed without paying the fee in advance.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Mouscardy v. Rickard · No. 1:25-cv-04966
- Laura Swain
- June 18, 2025
Background
Reginald Mouscardy, who is proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against Warden E. Rickard. The opinion states that a petitioner must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed in forma pauperis (without prepaying court fees). Mouscardy submitted the petition without either payment or an application.
Order
The court ordered Mouscardy, within 30 days of the order, to pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit the attached application. The application must include docket number 1:25-CV-4966. If the court grants the application, Mouscardy may proceed without prepaying fees. No summons will issue at this time. If Mouscardy 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 disposition
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied in forma pauperis status for purposes of an appeal. This order addresses the filing fee and fee-waiver requirements; it does not decide the merits of Mouscardy’s petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.