KAAZIM COOPER, AKA KAZZIM COOPER v. JOHN DOE COUNTY CLERK, ET AL.
- Louis Stanton
- 1:25-cv-06786
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Cooper v. John Doe County Clerk: Judge Swain ordered Cooper to pay the fees or submit a signed, complete fee-waiver application.
KAAZIM COOPER, AKA KAZZIM COOPER, whose case cannot proceed unless he pays the $405 fee or submits a signed and complete amended IFP application within 30 days; the defendants are not subject to a merits ruling in this order.
What happened
In KAAZIM COOPER, AKA KAZZIM COOPER v. JOHN DOE COUNTY CLERK, ET AL., Cooper sued the named defendants without a lawyer and submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront. The application was unsigned and did not answer enough questions to show that he could not pay.
The court ordered Cooper, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit a signed, amended application answering all applicable questions and providing facts about his inability to pay. The court also directed that no summons issue yet and said the action will be dismissed if he does not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied fee-waiver status for any appeal, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
The detailed version
- KAAZIM COOPER, AKA KAZZIM COOPER v. JOHN DOE COUNTY CLERK, ET AL. · No. 1:25-cv-06786
- Louis Stanton
- Aug. 28, 2025
Background
KAAZIM COOPER, AKA KAZZIM COOPER, brought this action without a lawyer. To proceed with a civil case, he had to either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application.
Cooper submitted an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application. He did not sign it, and he did not answer the remaining questions. Although he stated that he had been unemployed since July 2025, the court found that his responses did not establish that he was unable to pay the fees.
Order
The court ordered Cooper, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $405 in fees or submit a signed amended IFP application. The amended application must use docket number 25-CV-6786 (LTS), answer all applicable questions, and provide facts showing that he cannot pay the fees.
The court stated that, if it grants the amended IFP application, Cooper may proceed without prepaying the fees. No summons shall issue at this time. If Cooper complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal and Disposition
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.