David v. Guzman

Background

Chinue K. David filed a civil action against Guzman et al. The opinion states that David is currently incarcerated at RMSC and is proceeding without a lawyer. David submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without paying fees upfront or a prisoner authorization.

Required filing or payment

The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $405—consisting of 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 is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Ruling and next steps

Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered David, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 25-CV-9746 (LTS). No answer from the defendants is required at this time. If David complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if David does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal. The opinion cautioned that certain later dismissals could count as strikes under the prisoner filing-fee statute.