Delvalle v. Doe

Background

Javier Delvalle filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Delvalle is detained at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island and is representing himself.

Payment and filing requirements

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $55 for the administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court approves that application, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the facility to make those deductions and provide certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the preceding six months.

Within 30 days of the order, Delvalle must pay the $405 or submit the required application and authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-6685 (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 period, the action will be dismissed.

Ruling

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order also cautioned that a future dismissal of a prisoner's federal civil action as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim may count as a strike under federal law. The court did not address the merits of Delvalle's underlying claims.