Griffin v. Orange County Courthouse
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-06303
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Griffin v. Orange County Courthouse, Chief Judge Swain ordered Griffin to pay filing fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Casimir P. Griffin, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the stated fees or submit the required prisoner authorization within 30 days.
What happened
Casimir P. Griffin v. Orange County Courthouse is a case brought by Griffin, who is incarcerated at Orange County Jail and is representing himself. He submitted an application to proceed without paying fees in advance but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court gave Griffin 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or submit the signed authorization. The authorization would allow installment deductions for the $350 filing fee from his prison account. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if he complies; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
Chief 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 detailed version
- Griffin v. Orange County Courthouse · No. 1:25-cv-06303
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 10, 2025
Background
Casimir P. Griffin, who is incarcerated at Orange County Jail, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Under the statutes cited by the court, a prisoner filing a civil action must pay the required fees or request IFP status. If IFP status is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and to provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted IFP status.
Court’s Order
The court ordered Griffin, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. If he submits the authorization, it must be labeled with docket number 25-CV-6303 (LTS).
No summons will issue at this time. If Griffin complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The order did not decide the underlying claims in the complaint.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order cautioned that certain future dismissals could count as strikes under the prisoner filing-fee statute, but it did not state that this action had received a strike.
Judge
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order on August 10, 2025.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.