Cherry v. Facility
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-08463
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Cherry v. West Facility, Judge Swain ordered Cherry to pay filing fees or submit forms requesting permission to proceed without prepayment.
Lamont C. Cherry, who must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms for the case to proceed.
What happened
Lamont C. Cherry v. West Facility; Doe concerns a civil action filed by Lamont C. Cherry, who is detained at West Facility Annex and is representing himself. He filed the complaint without paying the required fees or submitting the required forms.
The court gave Cherry 30 days from October 15, 2025, to either pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without paying fees upfront and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments from his account if permission is granted.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no answer was required yet and said the case would proceed through the Clerk’s Office if Cherry complied. She stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Cherry v. Facility · No. 1:25-cv-08463
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 15, 2025
Background
Lamont C. Cherry filed this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he is currently detained at West Facility Annex. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Fees and required forms
The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $55 for the administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment of fees.
The prisoner authorization also directs the detention facility to deduct the filing-fee installments and send the court certified copies of the prisoner’s account statements for the previous six months.
Order
The court ordered Cherry to do one of two things within 30 days of October 15, 2025: pay the full $405 or submit the completed application and prisoner authorization. If he submits the forms, they must identify docket number 25-CV-8463 (LTS). No answer from the defendants was required at that point.
If Cherry 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 certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.