Allen v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07693
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Darzell Allen v. John Doe, Judge Swain ordered Darzell Allen to pay fees or submit forms within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Darzell Allen and the status of his federal civil action; the order requires him to pay the fees or submit the required forms before the case proceeds.
What happened
Darzell Allen v. John Doe was filed by Darzell Allen, who is detained at the West Facility Annex on Rikers Island and is representing himself. He submitted the complaint without the required fees, completed application, or authorization.
The court ordered Allen, within 30 days of the order, either to pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without paying the fees upfront and a prisoner authorization. No summons will issue yet. If Allen does not comply, the action will be dismissed.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying appeal fees.
The detailed version
- Allen v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-07693
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 18, 2025
Background
Darzell Allen filed this civil action without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Allen is detained at the West Facility Annex on Rikers Island and is proceeding without a lawyer. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
Filing-fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit the required application and authorization to proceed without prepaying fees. If that application is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
Order and disposition
The court ordered Allen to do one of two things within 30 days of September 18, 2025: pay the $405 in fees, or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-7693 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Allen complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Chief United States District 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 an appeal. The court also cautioned that a future dismissal of a prisoner's federal civil action as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim may count as a statutory strike.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.