Brown v. Ferguson
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-09814
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Kurell Brown v. Jahnah Ferguson, Chief Judge Swain ordered payment or an IFP application within 30 days.
Kurell Brown must either pay $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
Kurell Brown v. Jahnah Ferguson; New York City Department of Correction was filed without the required filing fees or a proper application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court gave Brown 30 days to pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. The court did not issue a summons at this time and said the action would be dismissed if Brown did not comply.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Brown v. Ferguson · No. 1:25-cv-09814
- Laura Swain
- Dec. 1, 2025
Background
Kurell Brown brought this action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without the required filing fees or a proper application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court explained that the fees are $405: a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee.
Order
The court ordered Brown, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or submit the attached signed application to proceed without prepayment. The application was required to identify docket number 25-CV-9814 (LTS). If the court grants the application, Brown may proceed without prepaying fees. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the action will be dismissed if Brown does not comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and classification
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. This order addresses filing fees and the application process; it does not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.