Fleming v. The City of New York
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-10278
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fleming v. The City of New York, Chief Judge McMahon ordered payment or an amended fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Woodrow Fleming and the pending action, because Fleming must pay the filing fees or submit an adequate amended application within 30 days or the action will be dismissed.
What happened
Fleming v. The City of New York is a lawsuit brought by Woodrow Fleming without a lawyer. Fleming submitted an application asking to proceed without paying the filing fees, but did not provide enough information about his ability to pay.
The court ordered Fleming, within 30 days, either to pay $400 in fees or submit a completed amended application explaining why he cannot pay. The court also directed that no summons issue at this time and stated that the action will be dismissed if Fleming does not comply.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Fleming v. The City of New York · No. 1:19-cv-10278
- Colleen McMahon
- Dec. 2, 2019
Background
Woodrow Fleming brought this action without a lawyer. To proceed in the district court, he had to either pay $400 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying those fees. Fleming submitted such an application, but the court found that his answers did not establish that he was unable to pay.
Fleming stated that he had recently been released from custody. He did not explain how he currently supported himself and did not answer the application’s questions about housing and living expenses. Because of those omissions, the court could not determine whether he had enough money to pay the filing fees.
Order
The court ordered Fleming to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay the $400 in fees or submit an amended application to proceed without prepaying them. The amended application must identify docket number 19-CV-10278 (CM) and provide facts addressing the deficiencies the court identified. If the court grants the amended application, Fleming may proceed without prepaying the fees.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to assign the matter to the judge’s docket, mail the order to Fleming, and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that the action will be dismissed if Fleming does not comply within the allowed period.
Additional ruling and classification
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. This was a procedural order about filing fees and permission to proceed without prepayment; it did not decide the merits of Fleming’s claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.