Khan v. Martuscello
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07095
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Shahab Khan v. Martuscello, Judge Swain ordered Khan to pay fees or submit prison IFP forms within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Shahab Khan must either pay the required fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization within 30 days. If he does not comply, the action will be dismissed; the order also denies permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
What happened
Shahab Khan v. Martuscello concerns Khan’s filing of a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the required paperwork. The order states that Khan is incarcerated at Hudson Correctional Facility and is representing himself.
The court gave Khan 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would permit installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account. No answer is required yet, and the court warned that failing to comply will result in dismissal of the action.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order does not address the substance of Khan’s underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Khan v. Martuscello · No. 1:25-cv-07095
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 28, 2025
Background
Shahab Khan filed a civil action while incarcerated at Hudson Correctional Facility and without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without completing an application to proceed without prepaying fees or a required prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee plus a $55 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
The prisoner authorization must direct the facility holding the prisoner to deduct the installment payments and send the court certified account statements covering the previous six months. The court directed Khan, within 30 days of the order, to pay the $405 or submit the completed application and authorization labeled with docket number 25-CV-7095 (LTS).
Effect of the Order
The court stated that no answer is required at this stage. If Khan complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the time allowed, the action will be dismissed. The court also cautioned that certain future dismissals could count as strikes under the prisoner litigation statute.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order does not decide the underlying claims or address their merits.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.