Trotman v. Warden NYC DOC

Background

David M. Trotman, who is incarcerated at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island, brought this action without a lawyer. The order addresses only the filing-fee requirements; it does not decide the merits of his claims.

A prisoner filing a civil action in the district court must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying the fees. That request is called an application to proceed in forma pauperis, or IFP. If the court grants IFP status, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner must therefore also submit an authorization directing the facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.

Court’s Action

Trotman submitted an IFP application and prisoner authorization, but the court found that the forms were handwritten and did not authorize the correct deductions. The court ordered him, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the full $405 or to complete and submit the attached amended IFP application and amended prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-9037 (LTS).

No summons will issue at this time. If Trotman complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order cautioned that certain future dismissals of prisoner actions can count as strikes under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), but it did not make such a dismissal here.