Parkes v. Colbert
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-06363
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Parkes v. Colbert, Chief Judge Swain ordered Tiffany Anne Parkes to pay $405 or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days.
Tiffany Anne Parkes, the plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit an IFP application within 30 days for the action to proceed.
What happened
In Parkes v. Colbert, Tiffany Anne Parkes filed the case without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them. The court explained that the fees total $405: a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee.
The court gave Parkes 30 days from the order’s date to pay the fees or submit a signed application. No summons will issue yet. If Parkes does not comply within that time, the action will be dismissed; if she submits the application and the court grants it, she may proceed without prepaying the fees.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal, certifying that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Parkes v. Colbert · No. 1:25-cv-06363
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 13, 2025
Background
Tiffany Anne Parkes brought the action pro se, meaning without a lawyer. She submitted the complaint but did not pay the required fees and did not submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Court’s Order
The court stated that proceeding with a civil action requires either payment of $405— consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submission of a signed IFP application under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court ordered Parkes, within 30 days of August 13, 2025, to do one of those two things. Any IFP application was to identify docket number 1:25-CV-6363 (LTS).
The court stated that, if it grants the application, Parkes will be permitted to proceed without prepaying the fees. No summons will issue at this stage. If Parkes does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The order did not address the merits of the claims against Brianna Colbert or the other defendants.
Appeal-Fee Ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Disposition
The court ordered payment of the filing fees or submission of an IFP application. It did not dismiss the action at this stage.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.