Christian v. Warden D. Rickard
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07888
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Raymond Christian v. Warden D. Rickard, Judge Swain ordered Christian to pay the $5 filing fee or submit an IFP application within 30 days.
Raymond Christian must either pay the $5.00 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; otherwise, his action will be dismissed. The respondent is not required to answer at this time.
What happened
In Raymond Christian v. Warden D. Rickard, Raymond Christian filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus without paying the $5 filing fee or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying court fees.
The court gave Christian 30 days to pay the fee or submit a signed application. No response from the warden was required yet, and the court did not decide the petition’s underlying claims. If Christian does not comply, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying appeal fees.
The detailed version
- Christian v. Warden D. Rickard · No. 1:25-cv-07888
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 26, 2025
Background
Raymond Christian, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against Warden D. Rickard. The opinion does not describe the underlying habeas claims. Christian submitted the petition without the required $5.00 filing fee and without an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), which means proceeding without prepaying court fees.
Order
The court ordered Christian, within 30 days of September 26, 2025, to either pay the $5.00 filing fee or complete and submit the attached signed IFP application. If the court grants the application, Christian may proceed without prepaying fees. The application must identify docket number 25-CV-7888.
The court stated that no answer from the respondent was required at that time. If Christian 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.
Appeal
The court certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Christian’s habeas petition.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.