Blanco v. Blige
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05437
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Carlita Blanco v. Mary J. Blige 1983, Judge Swain ordered Blanco to pay fees or correct her incomplete fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Carlita Blanco must either pay $405 in fees or submit a complete amended fee-waiver application within 30 days. The case will be dismissed if she does not comply, and she cannot proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal from this order.
What happened
Carlita Blanco v. Mary J. Blige 1983 concerns Blanco’s attempt to bring a civil case without a lawyer. She submitted an application asking to proceed without paying court fees upfront, but the application was incomplete because she left out income and expenses and did not answer most questions.
The court ordered Blanco, within 30 days of July 9, 2025, either to pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed amended application answering all applicable questions. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action would be dismissed if she did not comply.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying claims against Mary J. Blige 1983.
The detailed version
- Blanco v. Blige · No. 1:25-cv-05437
- Laura Swain
- July 9, 2025
Background
Carlita Blanco brought this action without a lawyer. To proceed in the federal court without paying fees in advance, she submitted an application for permission to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without prepaying court fees. The court found the application incomplete: Blanco did not state that she had any income or expenses and left most questions unanswered.
Order
The court ordered Blanco to do one of two things within 30 days of the order’s date:
1. Pay $405 in court fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee; or 2. Submit an amended application that is signed and answers all applicable questions.
If Blanco submits the amended application, it must identify docket number 25-CV-5437 (LTS). The court stated that, if it grants the amended application, Blanco may proceed without prepaying fees. No summons would issue at that time. If Blanco failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal ruling and classification
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order did not address the merits of Blanco’s claims against Mary J. Blige 1983. It is therefore a procedural order concerning the fee application and the case’s initial processing.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.