Scott v. Rikers Island DOC

Background

Ashaunte Scott brought this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that Scott is currently detained at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island. Scott submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Fee and filing requirements

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization also directs the facility to make those deductions and provide 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

The court ordered Scott, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization. The forms should identify docket number 25-CV-7068. No summons will issue at this time. If Scott complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if Scott does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order cautioned that certain future dismissals of prisoner civil actions may count as strikes under federal law, and that three strikes can limit a prisoner's ability to proceed without prepaying fees unless an imminent danger exception applies.