Cox v. Rikers Island DOC

Background

Hakeem Cox filed this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he is currently detained at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island. He submitted his complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Fee and application requirements

The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $55 for the administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. That request requires a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the detention facility to deduct those payments and send the court certified account statements for the previous six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order and disposition

The court ordered Cox, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the application and prisoner authorization forms. If he submits the forms, they must identify docket number 25-CV-7067 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. The court stated that, if Cox does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed. If he complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not rule on the merits of Cox’s claims. It also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a filing “strike” under the prisoner-litigation statute.