Gardner v. Miller

Background Daquan Gardner, who is incarcerated at Coxsackie Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without the filing fees, a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, or a prisoner authorization.

Fee and application requirements The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405—the $350 filing fee and $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that status.

Order Within 30 days of the order, Gardner must either pay the $405 in fees or submit the required application and authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-4970. No summons will issue at this time. If Gardner complies, the Clerk's Office will process the case under its procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.

Appeal and prisoner-strike warning The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The court also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim may count as a strike under the prisoner litigation statute. After three strikes, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees in new federal civil actions unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.

Judge's action Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed Gardner to pay the fees or submit the required forms. The order did not decide the merits of Gardner's claims.