Galarza v. Rikers Island DOC

Background

Shantee Galarza filed this civil action against Rikers Island DOC and Bob Barker Authorization Company Inc. Galarza is currently detained at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island and is proceeding without a lawyer.

The complaint was submitted without the required filing fees and without a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without paying the fees in advance, or a prisoner authorization. The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit the required application and authorization. If the court grants the application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

Within 30 days of the order, Galarza must either pay the $405 in fees or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization. The documents must identify docket number 25-CV-7074 (LTS). The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to deduct the $350 filing fee in installments and provide the court with certified account statements for the preceding six months.

No summons will issue at this time. If Galarza complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures. If Galarza does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The order does not decide the substance of Galarza's claims.

Appeal and Prisoner-Status Warning

The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The court also cautioned that a future dismissal of a prisoner's federal civil action as frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim can count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). After three strikes, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees in new federal civil actions unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.

Judge's Disposition

Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed Galarza to pay the fees or submit the required forms within 30 days and stated that the action will be dismissed if Galarza fails to comply. This is a procedural order about filing fees and permission to proceed without prepayment; it is not a ruling on the claims.