Jaime v. Toumi

Background

Luis Jaime, who is incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Order

The court explained that filing a civil action ordinarily requires $405: a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee. A prisoner may ask to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee remains payable in installments deducted from the prisoner’s account; the $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.

The court ordered Jaime, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the required application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-5875. No summons will issue at this time. If Jaime complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.

Appeal and Additional Warning

The court certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The court also warned that a dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a statutory “strike” affecting a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees in future federal civil actions.