McLean v. Clark
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:19-cv-10967
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In McLean v. Clark, Judge Colleen McMahon ordered Bashid McLean to pay fees or submit corrected forms within 30 days.
Bashid McLean was required to pay the fees or submit corrected forms within 30 days to continue pursuing the action. The defendants were not required to respond at this stage, and no summons issued.
What happened
In McLean v. Clark, Bashid McLean, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action but submitted a prisoner authorization directing payments to the wrong federal court. The order did not address the claims against Darcel Clark, the Bronx Supreme Courthouse, or Rikers Island.
The court gave McLean 30 days to either pay $400 in fees or submit corrected applications labeled with this case’s docket number. If he complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case; if he did not, the court said it would dismiss the action. No summons would issue at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order was procedural and did not decide whether McLean’s claims had merit.
The detailed version
- McLean v. Clark · No. 1:19-cv-10967
- Paul Engelmayer
- Dec. 12, 2019
Background
Bashid McLean, who was incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility, brought this civil action without a lawyer against Darcel Clark, the Bronx Supreme Courthouse, and Rikers Island. To start a civil action, a prisoner must either pay the required fees or request permission to proceed without prepaying them by submitting an application and a prisoner authorization.
McLean submitted those documents, but his prisoner authorization directed deductions from his prison account to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York rather than this court, the Southern District of New York.
Order
The court ordered McLean, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $400 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee, or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization forms. The court explained that a prisoner granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees must still pay the $350 filing fee through installment deductions from the prison trust-fund account; the $50 administrative fee does not apply to a prisoner granted that status.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to assign the matter to the judge’s docket, mail the order to McLean, and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If McLean complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the court stated that it would dismiss the action.
Appeal and procedural status
The court 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 proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The court also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
This was a procedural order about filing fees and required forms. It did not decide the merits of McLean’s claims, dismiss the action at that point, or issue a summons.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.