Donnay v. Yonkers Police Department

Background

Dominique Francis Donnay, Sr. brought this civil action against the Yonkers Police Department and other defendants. The opinion states that he is incarcerated at the Westchester County Department of Correction and is proceeding without a lawyer.

Order regarding fees

A prisoner filing a civil action in the court must either pay $405 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $55 for the administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, a 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.

Donnay submitted his complaint without the fees, a completed application, or a prisoner authorization. The court ordered him, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the application and authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-9356 (LTS). The court stated that no answer was required at that time. If he 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 caution

The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also cautioned that certain future dismissals of prisoner actions—those based on frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim—can count as strikes under the prisoner-filing statute. The opinion does not decide the merits of Donnay’s claims.