Harris v. Police Department City of New York 28th Precinct 250 Cross Bronx…
Harris v. Police Department City of New York 28th Precinct 250 Cross Bronx Expressway
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-06681
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Harris v. Police Department City of New York 28th Precinct 250, Judge Swain ordered Tony Harris to pay fees or submit authorization before the case proceeds.
Tony Harris, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization for the case to proceed.
What happened
Tony Harris, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed this civil action and submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront. He did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Harris, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or complete and submit the prisoner authorization. That authorization allows prison officials to deduct the $350 filing fee from his account in installments and provide account statements to the court.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no summons issue for now. If Harris complies, the case will be processed; if he does not, the action will be dismissed. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Harris v. Police Department City of New York 28th Precinct 250 Cross Bronx… · No. 1:25-cv-06681
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 16, 2025
Background
Tony Harris brought this civil action while incarcerated at EMTC Rikers Island and proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court’s order
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—the $350 filing fee and $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If the court grants that request, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
The court ordered Harris, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. The authorization directs the facility holding Harris to provide certified copies of his account statements for the previous six months and deduct the filing fee from his account in installments. Harris was instructed to identify the authorization with docket number 25-CV-6681 (LTS).
Disposition
No summons will issue at this time. If Harris complies with the order, 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. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not address the underlying claims against the Police Department City of New York 28th Precinct 250.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.