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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Nov. 17, 2025

Tanksley v. Clarkstown Central Schools

Full caption

Brock Corey Tanksley v. Clarkstown Central Schools; Russell Carrasquillo; Emil Bernado; Marc P. Baiocco; Christopher Macaluso

Judge
Laura Swain
Docket
7:25-cv-09281
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Tanksley v. Clarkstown Central Schools, Judge Swain ordered payment or an IFP application before the case could proceed.

Who this affects

Brock Corey Tanksley, whose civil action cannot proceed until he pays the required fees or submits the required application; the named defendants are not required to respond at this stage.

What happened

In Brock Corey Tanksley v. Clarkstown Central Schools, the court addressed what was needed for the civil action to move forward. The opinion did not decide the claims against any defendant.

Within 30 days, Tanksley had to pay $405 in fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without paying the fees in advance. The court said no further action would be taken, and no summons or answer would be required, until one of those steps occurred.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling if Tanksley did not comply or request more time. She also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal from the order.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Tanksley v. Clarkstown Central Schools · No. 7:25-cv-09281
Judge
Laura Swain
Date
Nov. 17, 2025

Background

Brock Corey Tanksley submitted this civil action to the court by email. The court explained that a person starting a civil action must either pay the required fees or submit a signed application asking to proceed without paying those fees in advance.

The Court’s Order

The court ordered Tanksley, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $405 in fees or complete, sign, and submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying the fees. The order states that the $405 includes a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, subject to possible updates to the fee schedule.

The court directed that no further action would be taken, and that no summons would issue and no answer would be required, until the fees were paid or a completed and signed application was received. If the application were granted, Tanksley would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees. If proper payment had already been submitted, the case would proceed after the payment was processed.

Disposition

The court did not decide the underlying claims. It ordered payment of the fees or submission of an application to proceed without prepayment. If Tanksley failed to comply within the allowed time or failed to request an extension, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The court also certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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