Kelly v. Miller

Background

Shytique Kelly, who is incarcerated, filed this action without a lawyer in the Northern District of New York. That court later separated Kelly’s claims arising at Green Haven Correctional Facility against Mark Miller and transferred those claims to the Southern District of New York. The court explained that the separated claims became a new action and therefore required a separate filing-fee payment or a separate request to proceed without prepaying fees.

Payment or fee-waiver requirements

The court stated that filing a civil action ordinarily requires $405: a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee. A prisoner who seeks to proceed without prepaying fees must submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits the facility holding the prisoner to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner’s account in installments and requires certified account statements for the previous six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this fee-waiver status.

Order and effect

Within 30 days of the order, Kelly must either pay the $405 or submit the required application and authorization forms, labeled with docket number 25-CV-6763 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Kelly 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. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal. This order addresses filing requirements and does not decide the underlying claims against Miller.