Ritter v. Montoya
- John Koeltl
- 1:20-cv-00114
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ritter v. Montoya, Judge McMahon ordered prisoner Gregory Ritter to pay fees or submit authorization before the case could proceed.
Gregory Ritter, the incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, had to pay the fees or submit the required authorization for the case to proceed.
What happened
Ritter v. Montoya concerns Gregory Ritter’s pro se civil action against the listed defendants. Ritter submitted an application to proceed without paying filing fees upfront, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court gave Ritter 30 days to either pay $400 in fees or submit the completed authorization. That authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account and provide the court with required account statements. The court directed that no summons issue yet.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered that the case would be processed if Ritter complied and would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Ritter v. Montoya · No. 1:20-cv-00114
- John Koeltl
- Jan. 8, 2020
Background
Gregory Ritter, who was incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, Illinois, brought this civil action without a lawyer against OFC Montoya, OFC Doe, Nurse Stillgs, and Doctor of Record, MCC Manhattan. The opinion does not address the merits of Ritter’s claims.
A prisoner filing a civil action must either pay the required fees or request permission to proceed without paying them upfront. A prisoner who seeks that permission must submit both a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s prison trust account. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a prisoner granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Ritter submitted the application but not the prisoner authorization.
Order
The court ordered Ritter, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. The authorization must direct the facility holding him to deduct the $350 filing fee in installments and send the court certified copies of his prison trust account statements for the preceding six months. The court instructed him to label the authorization with docket number 20-CV-0114 (CM).
The Clerk of Court was directed to assign the case to Judge McMahon’s docket, mail Ritter a copy of the order, and note service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that it would process the case under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Ritter complied, and would dismiss the action if he failed to comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and Additional Warning
Judge Colleen McMahon 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 appeal without prepaying fees. The court also warned 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), which can limit a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees after three strikes, 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.