Potter v. Port Jervis Police Department
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-10519
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Potter v. Port Jervis Police Department, Judge McMahon ordered Donald Potter to pay fees or submit forms before the case could proceed.
Donald J. Potter, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, was required to pay the fees or submit the required forms before his case could proceed.
What happened
Potter v. Port Jervis Police Department involved a civil action filed by Donald J. Potter, who was incarcerated and representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees or completing the paperwork to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court gave Potter 30 days to either pay $400 in fees or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installment deductions from his prisoner account. The court also directed the Clerk to mail him the order, and no summons would issue at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered that the case would be processed if Potter complied and would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Potter v. Port Jervis Police Department · No. 1:19-cv-10519
- Colleen McMahon
- Nov. 18, 2019
Background
Donald J. Potter, who was incarcerated at Orange County Jail, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He did not submit the filing fees, a completed application to proceed without paying fees in advance, or a prisoner authorization.
Fee and IFP requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit the required application and authorization to proceed without prepaying fees. Even when a prisoner is allowed to proceed without prepaying fees, the $350 filing fee must generally be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and directs the facility to send the court certified account statements for the prior six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.
Order
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered Potter to meet one of these requirements within 30 days of the order. If he paid the fees or submitted the required forms, 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. The Clerk was directed to assign the matter to Judge McMahon's docket, mail Potter a copy of the order, and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. The order cautioned that a later dismissal for being frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner-filing statute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.