Pagartanis v. United States Federal Bureau of Prisons
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07890
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Pagartanis v. Bureau of Prisons, Judge Swain ordered payment of the $5 filing fee or an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days.
Steven Pagartanis must either pay the $5.00 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons was not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
Steven Pagartanis filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons without paying the $5 filing fee or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court ordered Pagartanis, who is proceeding without a lawyer, to pay the fee or submit a signed application within 30 days. No response from the Bureau of Prisons was required at this time, and the court said the action would be dismissed if Pagartanis did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order, certifying that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the habeas petition’s underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Pagartanis v. United States Federal Bureau of Prisons · No. 1:25-cv-07890
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 25, 2025
Background
Steven Pagartanis filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He was proceeding without a lawyer and submitted the petition without the required $5.00 filing fee or an application to proceed without prepaying fees, also called an IFP application.
Order
The court ordered Pagartanis, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $5.00 filing fee or complete and submit the attached IFP application. If the court grants the application, Pagartanis may proceed without prepaying the filing fee. The court directed that the application identify docket number 25-CV-7890.
The court stated that no answer from the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons was required at that time. If Pagartanis 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.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not address the merits of Pagartanis’s habeas petition.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.