Fredricks v. Kopp
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-06907
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fredricks v. Kopp, Chief Judge Swain ordered Nigel Fredricks to pay the $5 fee or submit an application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days.
Nigel Fredricks must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed. M. Kopp was not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
In Fredricks v. Kopp, Nigel Fredricks filed a petition for a court order concerning his detention but did not pay the required $5 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The opinion does not describe the petition’s underlying claims.
The court gave Fredricks 30 days from August 26, 2025, to pay the fee or submit a signed application. No response from M. Kopp was required at that time. If Fredricks does not comply, 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 order did not decide the petition’s underlying legal issues.
The detailed version
- Fredricks v. Kopp · No. 1:25-cv-06907
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 26, 2025
Background
Nigel Fredricks, identified in the opinion as proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The opinion does not explain the substance of the petition or the relief Fredricks seeks from M. Kopp.
To proceed with the petition, Fredricks had to either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying court fees. He submitted neither.
Order
The court ordered Fredricks, within 30 days of the order’s date, to pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit the attached application. If he submits the application, it must include docket number 25-CV-6907 (LTS). The court explained that, if it grants the application, Fredricks may proceed without prepaying the fee.
The court stated that no answer from M. Kopp was required at that time. If Fredricks complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the permitted time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order did not address the merits of Fredricks’s petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.