Friedberg v. The National Cathedral
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-09026
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Friedberg v. The National Cathedral: Judge Swain ordered Donna Friedberg to pay fees or submit an IFP application within 30 days.
Donna Friedberg must either pay $405 in fees or submit a signed IFP application within 30 days; the case may be dismissed if she does not comply.
What happened
In Donna Friedberg v. The National Cathedral, Donna Friedberg filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Friedberg 30 days from the order to pay $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. The court said no summons would issue at that time and that the case would be processed if she complied; otherwise, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Friedberg v. The National Cathedral · No. 1:25-cv-09026
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 31, 2025
Background
Donna Friedberg brought this civil action pro se, meaning without a lawyer. She submitted the complaint without paying the required filing and administrative fees and without submitting an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying court fees.
Court’s Order
The court stated that proceeding with a civil action required either payment of $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or a signed IFP application under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court ordered Friedberg, within 30 days of the order, to take one of those steps. If she submitted the IFP application, it had to identify docket number 25-CV-9026 (LTS). The court explained that, if it granted the application, Friedberg could proceed without prepaying fees.
No summons would issue at that time. The case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Friedberg complied. The court stated that the action would be dismissed if she failed to comply within the allowed time.
Appeal
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed payment of the required fee or submission of an IFP application. The order did not decide the underlying claims against The National Cathedral.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.