Belizario v. Doe

Background

Roger Belizario filed a civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Belizario is incarcerated at Riker’s Island – Otis Bantum Correctional Center and is representing himself.

Required filing or payment

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Belizario must submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from his prison account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The authorization also directs the facility to provide certified account statements for the previous six months.

The court ordered Belizario, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the application and authorization, labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-5877 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If he 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 ruling and scope of the order

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) 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 Belizario’s underlying claims.