Wells v. King
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05651
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Wells v. King, Judge Swain ordered Wells to pay the $5 filing fee or apply to proceed without paying within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Carl D. Wells, who must pay the $5.00 filing fee or submit the required application within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Wells v. King, Carl D. Wells filed a petition in federal court but did not pay the required $5 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court gave Wells 30 days to pay the fee or submit a signed application. The court said no response from the respondent was required yet and warned that the action will be dismissed if Wells does not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the merits of Wells’s petition.
The detailed version
- Wells v. King · No. 1:25-cv-05651
- Laura Swain
- July 14, 2025
Background
Carl D. Wells, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against Supt. M. King. The court stated that a petitioner must either pay the $5.00 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. Wells submitted the petition without either payment or an application.
Order
The court ordered Wells, within 30 days of the order’s date, to pay the $5.00 filing fee or complete and submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees. The application must identify docket number 1:25-CV-5651 (LTS). If the court grants the application, Wells may proceed without prepaying the filing fee.
The court stated that no answer from the respondent was required at that time. If Wells complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal-related ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain 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 address the merits of Wells’s petition.
Disposition
The court issued an order directing payment of the filing fee or submission of an application to proceed without prepaying fees. This is a procedural order, not a decision on the underlying petition.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.