Paguandas v. Rikers Island DOC

Background

Livingson Paguandas filed this civil action without a lawyer against Rikers Island DOC and Bob Barker Authorization Company Inc. The opinion states that Paguandas is detained at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island. Paguandas submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a 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 and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, the prisoner must submit a signed application and an authorization directing the facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner’s account in installments and send certified account statements for the previous six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that status.

The court ordered Paguandas, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-7064 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Paguandas complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures; if Paguandas does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not reach the merits of Paguandas’s claims.