Abdul v. New York City Department of Corrections
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-09747
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Keshawn Abdul v. New York City Department of Corrections, Judge Swain ordered Abdul to pay fees or submit forms to proceed.
Keshawn Abdul must either pay the required fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization within 30 days; the New York City Department of Corrections was not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
Keshawn Abdul v. New York City Department of Corrections concerns an action filed by Abdul, who is incarcerated and is representing himself. He submitted a complaint without paying the required fees or providing completed forms to request permission to proceed without paying the fees upfront.
The court gave Abdul 30 days from December 2, 2025, to either pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If he submits the forms, the $350 filing fee would be collected from his prison account in installments. The court said no answer was required at that time.
Judge Swain ordered Abdul to meet one of those requirements and stated that the action will be dismissed if he does not comply within the allowed time. The court also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Abdul v. New York City Department of Corrections · No. 1:25-cv-09747
- Laura Swain
- Dec. 2, 2025
Background
Keshawn Abdul filed this civil action while incarcerated at Rose M. Singer Center and is proceeding without a lawyer. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims against the New York City Department of Corrections. Abdul submitted his complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and a prisoner authorization. Even if permission to proceed without prepaying fees is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected from the prisoner’s account in installments. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to send the court certified account statements for the previous six months and to deduct the required payments.
The court ordered Abdul, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-9747 (LTS). No answer was required at that time. The court stated that, if Abdul complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he does not comply within the time allowed, the action will be dismissed.
Additional Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order does not decide the merits of Abdul’s underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.