Caldwell v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
- Nelson Roman
- 7:25-cv-07261
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Caldwell v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, Judge Swain ordered Caldwell to pay fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days before the case proceeds.
Kerry G. Caldwell, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
Kerry G. Caldwell v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, et al. is a case brought by Caldwell, who is incarcerated at FCI Otisville and is representing himself. He submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Caldwell, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit the completed authorization. The authorization would allow deductions from his prison account to pay the $350 filing fee in installments and would require account statements from the past six months. No summons will issue at this time, and the action will be dismissed if Caldwell does not comply.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on September 5, 2025. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Caldwell v. Federal Bureau of Prisons · No. 7:25-cv-07261
- Nelson Roman
- Sept. 5, 2025
Background
Kerry G. Caldwell, who is incarcerated at FCI Otisville, brought this action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If permission to proceed without prepayment is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the facility to make those deductions and provide certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Caldwell to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay the $405 in fees or submit the completed prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 25-CV-7261 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Caldwell 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.
Other Ruling
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the merits of Caldwell's underlying claims. It also warned that a later dismissal as frivolous or for failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner filing-fee statute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.