Wright v. Rose M. Singer Center

Background

Marcus C. Wright filed this civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Wright is incarcerated at Rikers Island—Rose M. Singer Center and is proceeding without a lawyer.

Required payment or application

The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application, together with a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires collection of the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and send the court certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Wright, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or submit the attached IFP application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-4964. No summons will issue at this time. If Wright 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.

The court 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 court also cautioned that a later dismissal of a prisoner’s federal action or appeal as frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim can count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).