Brooks v. New York State Department of Parole
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-11125
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Brooks v. New York State Department of Parole, Judge McMahon ordered payment or fee-waiver paperwork within 30 days before the case could proceed.
Lesimeon L. Brooks, the incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer; the case's processing also involved the named defendants, the Clerk of Court, and Brooks's correctional facility.
What happened
Lesimeon L. Brooks filed this case against the New York State Department of Parole, J. Robinson, and J. Bouck without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without completing the forms needed to request permission to pay later from his prison account.
The court gave Brooks 30 days to either pay $400 or submit a completed fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization. No summons would issue yet, and the court said the case would be processed if he complied; if he did not, the court would dismiss the action.
Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Brooks v. New York State Department of Parole · No. 1:19-cv-11125
- Colleen McMahon
- Dec. 9, 2019
Background
Lesimeon L. Brooks, who was incarcerated at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers Island, brought this action without a lawyer against the New York State Department of Parole, J. Robinson, identified as a Senior Parole Officer, and Parole Officer J. Bouck. Brooks submitted a complaint but did not pay the required filing fees or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization.
Fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If that application is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prison trust-fund account. The prisoner authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to people granted this fee-waiver status.
Order
The court ordered Brooks, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 in fees or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 19-CV-11125 (CM). The Clerk was directed to assign the matter to Judge Colleen McMahon's docket, mail Brooks a copy of the order, and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that it would process the case if Brooks complied and would dismiss the action if he failed to 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 fee-waiver status for an appeal. The order cautioned that a later dismissal for maliciousness, frivolousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), and that three such strikes can restrict a prisoner's ability to bring future federal civil actions without prepaying fees, subject to the statutory exception for imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.