Miller v. United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-06765
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Miller v. United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Chief Judge Swain ordered Miller to pay fees or apply to proceed without prepayment.
Lisa Miller, who must either pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Miller v. United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Lisa Miller filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepayment.
The court ordered Miller, within 30 days, to pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application showing that she cannot pay. No summons would issue at that time.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the case would be processed if Miller complied, but it would be dismissed if she did not. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Miller v. United States District Court for the Southern District of New York · No. 1:25-cv-06765
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 27, 2025
Background
Lisa Miller brought this civil action without a lawyer. She submitted her complaint without paying the required fees and without an application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Order
The court explained that proceeding with a civil action required 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 directed Miller to take one of those actions within 30 days of the order. If she submitted the application, it had to identify docket number 25-CV-6765 (LTS). The court noted that, if it granted the application, Miller could proceed without paying the fees in advance.
No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Miller complied with the order, but that the action would be dismissed if she failed to comply within the allowed period.
Appeal ruling
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Miller’s underlying claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.