Kendrick v. Pete
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-09040
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In De'Andre Kendrick v. Pete, Judge Swain ordered Kendrick to pay $405 or submit forms seeking permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
De'Andre Kendrick, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the application and authorization needed to seek permission to proceed without prepaying them.
What happened
De'Andre Kendrick v. Pete concerns Kendrick's filing of a civil case without paying the required fees or submitting the required forms. The court states that Kendrick is incarcerated and is representing himself.
The court gave Kendrick 30 days from November 3, 2025, to either pay $405 or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If he does not comply, the action will be dismissed. No response from the defendants is required at this stage.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed this payment or paperwork and said that any appeal from the order would not be considered a good-faith appeal, so permission to appeal without prepaying fees was denied. The order did not decide the claims in the complaint.
The detailed version
- Kendrick v. Pete · No. 1:25-cv-09040
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 3, 2025
Background
De'Andre Kendrick filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The order states that Kendrick is currently incarcerated at the Indiana Department of Correction and is proceeding without a lawyer.
Payment or fee-waiver requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, the prisoner must submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits the facility holding the prisoner to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner's account in installments and requires certified account statements for the preceding six months. The court also explained that the $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court ordered Kendrick, within 30 days of November 3, 2025, to either pay the $405 or submit the application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-9040 (LTS). The court stated that no answer from the defendants was required at that time. If Kendrick 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.
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 order did not address the merits of Kendrick's underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.