Griffin v. Potter
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07827
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Casimir P. Griffin v. Sargent Potter, Chief Judge Swain ordered Griffin to pay fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Casimir P. Griffin, who was incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Casimir P. Griffin v. Sargent Potter et al., Casimir P. Griffin filed a civil action while incarcerated and submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront. He did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Griffin, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit the completed authorization. The authorization would permit installment deductions of the $350 filing fee from his prison account and provide the court with certified account statements. No summons would issue at that time.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain warned that the case would be dismissed if Griffin did not comply. She also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from the order, finding that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Griffin v. Potter · No. 1:25-cv-07827
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 17, 2025
Background
Casimir P. Griffin, who was incarcerated at Orange County Jail, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit a signed IFP application and prisoner authorization. If IFP status is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the facility to provide certified copies of the prisoner’s account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Griffin, within 30 days of October 17, 2025, either to pay the $405 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-7827 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. The order states that, if Griffin complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Other Warnings
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order also warned that certain dismissals of prisoner cases can count as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), potentially limiting a prisoner’s ability to file later federal civil actions without prepaying fees.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.