Ildefonso v. J.M. Banks, D.H.O.
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-10421
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ildefonso v. Banks, Judge McMahon ordered Benito Ildefonso to pay filing fees or submit required forms within 30 days.
Benito Ildefonso, the incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Ildefonso v. J.M. Banks, D.H.O., Benito Ildefonso filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting completed forms to proceed without prepaying them. The order states that he is incarcerated and representing himself.
The court gave Ildefonso 30 days to either pay $400 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would permit deductions from his prison account to pay the $350 filing fee in installments and would require account statements for the previous six months.
Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Ildefonso and noted that no summons would issue yet. The case would proceed if he complied, but the action would be dismissed if he did not. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees because it certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Ildefonso v. J.M. Banks, D.H.O. · No. 1:19-cv-10421
- Colleen McMahon
- Nov. 22, 2019
Background
Benito Ildefonso filed this civil action while incarcerated and representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees, or a prisoner authorization.
Fee and IFP requirements
The order explains that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $400—the $350 filing fee plus a $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed IFP application and a prisoner authorization. If IFP status is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires collection of the $350 filing fee through installment deductions from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to send the court certified account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted IFP status.
Order
The court gave Ildefonso 30 days from the date of the order to pay the $400 or submit the required IFP application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 19-CV-10421 (CM). Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to assign the case to her docket, mail Ildefonso a copy of the order, and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The order states that the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Ildefonso complied and that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the permitted period.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a statutory “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.