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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Nov. 20, 2019

McDaniel v. Kissa

Judge
Colleen McMahon
Docket
1:19-cv-10280
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
HabeasPro SeCivil Procedure
In one sentence

In McDaniel v. Kissa, Judge McMahon ordered Curtis McDaniel to pay the filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.

Who this affects

Curtis McDaniel's petition was subject to the fee-or-application requirement, and the case could be dismissed if he did not comply within 30 days. Smalls Kissa was not required to answer at that time.

What happened

In McDaniel v. Kissa, Curtis McDaniel filed a petition asking for habeas relief, but he did not pay the $5 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepayment of fees. He was representing himself.

The court gave McDaniel 30 days to pay the fee or submit a signed application labeled with docket number 19-CV-10280 (CM). The court said no response from Smalls Kissa was required at that time.

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the clerk to send McDaniel the order and process the case if he complied. She stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
McDaniel v. Kissa · No. 1:19-cv-10280
Judge
Colleen McMahon
Date
Nov. 20, 2019

Background

Curtis McDaniel, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which is a request for court relief from allegedly unlawful custody or detention. He did not submit the required $5.00 filing fee or an application to proceed without prepaying court fees.

Order

The court directed McDaniel, within 30 days, to either pay the $5.00 filing fee or complete and submit the attached application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The application was to include docket number 19-CV-10280 (CM). The court explained that, if the application were granted, McDaniel could proceed without prepaying the filing fee.

The clerk was directed to assign the matter to Judge McMahon's docket, mail the order to McDaniel, and record service on the docket. The court stated that no answer from Smalls Kissa was required at that time. If McDaniel complied, the case would be processed under the clerk's procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the court would dismiss the action.

Appeal ruling

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the merits of McDaniel's habeas petition.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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