Charles Bernard Starke, Junior v. Rockland County, et al.

Background

Charles Bernard Starke, Junior filed this civil action while detained at the Rockland County Jail. The opinion states that he is proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Order

The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected from the prisoner's account in installments. The prisoner authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this fee-waiver status.

Within 30 days of the order, Starke must either pay the $405 or submit the required application and authorization forms, labeled with docket number 25-CV-7884 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If he complies, the clerk's office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.

Appeal and warning

The court certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The court also warned that certain future dismissals of a prisoner's federal civil actions can count as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), limiting the ability to proceed without prepaying fees after three strikes unless an imminent danger of serious physical injury is shown. This order did not address the merits of Starke's claims.