Johnson-El v. Balgobin
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-11255
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Johnson-El v. Balgobin, Judge McMahon ordered payment of the filing fees or submission of an application to proceed without prepayment.
Jamari Tariq Johnson-El, who must either pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days; the action may be dismissed for noncompliance.
What happened
In Johnson-El v. Balgobin, Jamari Tariq Johnson-El filed a notice of removal without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepayment of fees.
The court gave Johnson-El 30 days to pay $400 or submit a signed application. If the application is granted, the case may proceed without prepayment; if Johnson-El does not comply, the court will dismiss the action. No summons will issue at this time.
Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to assign the matter to her docket and mail the order to Johnson-El. She also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Johnson-El v. Balgobin · No. 1:19-cv-11255
- Colleen McMahon
- Dec. 16, 2019
Background
Plaintiff Jamari Tariq Johnson-El filed a notice of removal pro se, meaning without a lawyer. The filing did not include the required court fees or an application to proceed without prepayment of fees.
Order
The court explained that proceeding with a civil action requires either payment of a $400 total fee—$350 for filing and $50 for administration—or a signed application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without prepaying fees. The court ordered Johnson-El, within 30 days of the order, to do one of those two things. If the court grants the application, Johnson-El may proceed without prepaying the fees.
The Clerk of Court was directed to assign the matter to Judge McMahon's docket, mail the order to Johnson-El, and record service on the docket. The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. The order states that the court will process the case under the Clerk's procedures if Johnson-El complies and will dismiss the action if Johnson-El does not comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and disposition
Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. This order addresses the filing-fee or fee-waiver requirement; it does not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.