Merchant v. Department of Health Services

Background

Scott Merchant, who was incarcerated at Rikers Island, brought this action without a lawyer against the Department of Health Services and the Department of Corrections. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying the filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.

Required fees and authorization

The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment of fees. If that request is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization permits the facility to deduct those payments and requires certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months to be sent to the court. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment under the cited statute.

Order

Within 30 days of the order, Merchant was required either to pay the $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 19-CV-11122 (CM). Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to assign the matter to her docket, mail Merchant a copy of the order, and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Merchant complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an 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 frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).