Rivera v. C.O. Skinner
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05455
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Rivera v. Skinner, Chief Judge Swain ordered Jimmy Rivera to pay fees or submit forms to proceed, without deciding his claims.
Jimmy Rivera must either pay the required fees or submit the required IFP materials within 30 days to avoid dismissal without prejudice. The defendants are not required to answer at this time.
What happened
In Rivera v. Skinner, Jimmy Rivera filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying them. The order states that Rivera is incarcerated and representing himself.
The court gave Rivera 30 days from July 1, 2025, to either pay $405 or submit a signed application and prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prisoner account. No answer was required from the defendants at that time.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the case be processed if Rivera complies and stated that the action will be dismissed without prejudice if he does not. The order did not decide the claims, and it denied payment-free status for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Rivera v. C.O. Skinner · No. 1:25-cv-05455
- Laura Swain
- July 1, 2025
Background
Jimmy Rivera filed this civil action without a filing-fee payment, a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, or a prisoner authorization. The order states that Rivera is incarcerated at Lakeview Correctional Facility and is representing himself.
Filing-fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee plus a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees. A prisoner seeking IFP status must submit a signed IFP application and a prisoner authorization. If IFP status is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account, and the authorization directs the facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the prior six months.
Order
Within 30 days of the order, Rivera must either pay the $405 or submit the IFP application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-5455 (LTS). If he complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures. No answer is required from the defendants at this time. If Rivera does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed without prejudice.
The court also certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order cautioned that a future dismissal of a prisoner's federal action for being frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim can count as a strike under the prison-litigation statute, subject to the conditions described in the order.
What the order did not decide
The court did not address the factual or legal merits of Rivera's claims against the defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.