Keeth v. Jarmusch
- Katherine Failla
- 1:25-cv-07221
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Keeth v. Jarmusch, Judge Swain ordered Keeth to pay $405 or submit an IFP application within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Keeth, who must either pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Keeth v. Jarmusch, Keeth filed a civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court ordered Keeth, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or to submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. No summons will issue at this time, and the action will be dismissed if Keeth does not comply.
Judge Swain also stated that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying appeal fees.
The detailed version
- Keeth v. Jarmusch · No. 1:25-cv-07221
- Katherine Failla
- Sept. 9, 2025
Background
Keeth brought the action without a lawyer. Keeth submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court explained that proceeding with a civil action requires either payment of a $405 fee— consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The court directed Keeth, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the attached application. If the court grants the application, Keeth will be permitted to proceed without prepaying fees.
No summons will issue at this time. If Keeth complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If Keeth does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal-fee ruling
Judge Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.