Massiah v. New York City
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05273
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Massiah v. New York City, Judge Swain ordered each listed incarcerated plaintiff to pay fees or submit forms within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
The plaintiffs in Massiah v. New York City, including Rory Boothe, Kofi Ayisi, Marcin Pieciak, Andre Antrobus, Alexander Watson, Johnathan Mitchells, and Rick J. Samuelson, must each satisfy the payment or filing requirements within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
Massiah v. New York City is a civil action brought by plaintiffs proceeding without lawyers. The order identifies Rory Boothe, Kofi Ayisi, Marcin Pieciak, Andre Antrobus, Alexander Watson, Johnathan Mitchells, and Rick J. Samuelson as incarcerated at George R. Vierno Center.
The plaintiffs filed their complaint without paying the required fees and without completed applications to proceed without paying fees upfront or authorizations for deductions from their prison accounts. The court gave each plaintiff 30 days to pay $405 or submit the required forms.
The court ordered that no summons issue yet and said the case would be processed if the plaintiffs complied; otherwise, the action would be dismissed. Judge Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Massiah v. New York City · No. 1:25-cv-05273
- Laura Swain
- July 9, 2025
Background
The complaint was filed by plaintiffs proceeding without lawyers. The caption names Deqon Massiah and others as plaintiffs. In the body of the order, the court identifies Rory Boothe, Kofi Ayisi, Marcin Pieciak, Andre Antrobus, Alexander Watson, Johnathan Mitchells, and Rick J. Samuelson as plaintiffs currently incarcerated at George R. Vierno Center.
Filing-fee requirements
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 apply to proceed without prepaying fees. A prisoner seeking that status must also submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits deductions from the prison account in installments toward the $350 filing fee and requires certified account statements for the previous six months. The administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.
The plaintiffs submitted the complaint without the filing fees, completed applications, or prisoner authorizations. The court ordered each individual plaintiff, within 30 days of July 9, 2025, to either pay the $405 fee or submit the required application and authorization labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-5273 (LTS).
Ruling and consequences
The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. It stated that, if each plaintiff complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If a plaintiff failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the merits of the plaintiffs’ underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.