Jenkins v. Doe

Background

Justin Jenkins filed this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he is incarcerated at Rikers Island – West Facility Annex. He submitted his complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepayment or a prisoner authorization.

The court’s order

The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment. That request requires a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account; the $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that status.

Within 30 days of the order, Jenkins must either pay the $405 or submit the required application and authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-7961 (LTS). If he 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. The court also stated that no answer from Doe is required at this stage.

Other ruling and effect

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner litigation statute, and that three such strikes can limit a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees, subject to the statute’s imminent-danger exception.