Staples v. Orange County Jail

Background

Andrew P. Staples, Jr., who was incarcerated at Downstate Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a filing fee, a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, or a prisoner authorization. The caption identifies the defendant as Orange County Jail (Medical). Staples was proceeding without a lawyer.

The court’s order

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $50 for the administrative fee—or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.

The court ordered Staples, within 30 days of December 3, 2019, to do one of two things: pay the $400 in fees, or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization. The documents were to identify docket number 19-CV-10985 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to assign the case to Judge McMahon’s docket, mail Staples a copy of the order, and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.

Disposition

Judge Colleen McMahon did not decide the merits of Staples’s claims. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Staples complied, but that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed 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 prepaying fees. The order further cautioned that a later dismissal for being frivolous or for failing to state a claim could count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).