Cherry v. The City of New York

Background

Lamont C. Cherry filed this civil action while incarcerated at Rikers Island and without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without completing an application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Order

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 to proceed without prepaying fees, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account; the $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that status.

The court ordered Cherry to comply within 30 days of the order by either paying the $405 or submitting the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-7497 (LTS). The authorization would permit deductions from his prison account and require certified account statements for the prior six months. No answer was required at that stage. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Cherry complied and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.

Appeal and effect

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an 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 addressed filing requirements and did not reach the merits of Cherry’s claims against the defendants. It also cautioned that certain future dismissals of prisoner cases can count as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), subject to the exception stated in that statute.