Wells v. State of New York Department of Corrections
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-11280
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Wells v. State of New York Department of Corrections, Chief Judge McMahon ordered payment or an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Carl Wells and the future processing of his prisoner civil action; the order also concerns prisoners seeking to proceed without prepaying filing fees.
What happened
Carl Wells, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed this action without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request a fee waiver. The Eastern District of New York transferred the action to the Southern District of New York.
The court gave Wells 30 days to either pay $400 or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prisoner account and provide six months of account statements.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk to assign the case, mail Wells the order, and record service. No summons would issue yet; failure to comply would result in dismissal of the action. The court also denied fee-waived appeal status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Wells v. State of New York Department of Corrections · No. 1:19-cv-11280
- Colleen McMahon
- Dec. 10, 2019
Background
Carl Wells, who was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, filed this action without a lawyer. He originally filed it in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which transferred it to the Southern District of New York. The opinion does not address the merits of Wells's claims.
Fees and required forms
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 prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission 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 prison facility to provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Wells had submitted the complaint without the fees, a completed application, or a prisoner authorization. The court ordered him, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 or submit the required forms labeled with docket number 19-CV-11280 (CM).
Order and effect
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk to assign the matter to her docket, mail Wells a copy of the order, and note service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Wells complied, the Clerk's Office would process the case under its procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a statutory “strike” affecting a prisoner's ability to proceed without prepaying fees in future actions.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.