Bolden v. Rikers Island DOC
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07073
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Marshall Bolden v. Rikers Island DOC, Judge Swain ordered payment or an IFP application before the case could proceed.
Marshall Bolden, who is proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days for the action to proceed.
What happened
Marshall Bolden sued Rikers Island DOC and Bob Barker Company Inc. without a lawyer. He submitted his complaint without paying the required fees or completing the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court gave Bolden 30 days to either pay $405 or submit a signed application and prisoner authorization. If granted permission to proceed without prepayment, the $350 filing fee would be collected from his account in installments; no summons would issue yet.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered these steps and stated that the case would be processed if Bolden complied. The order says the action will be dismissed if he does not comply, and denies permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Bolden v. Rikers Island DOC · No. 1:25-cv-07073
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 8, 2025
Background
Marshall Bolden filed this civil action without a lawyer while detained at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island. He submitted the 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 filing a civil action must either pay $405—$350 for the filing fee and $55 for the 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 is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization also directs the facility to deduct those payments 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 Bolden, within 30 days of the order, to pay the $405 or submit the required application and authorization forms labeled with the case number. No summons would issue at that time. If Bolden complies, the Clerk's Office will process the case under its procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued and signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.