Moore v. The State of New York
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-00426
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Moore v. The State of New York, Judge McMahon ordered a prisoner to pay fees or submit authorization within 30 days.
Robert Moore, a self-represented prisoner seeking to proceed without prepaying fees, was required to pay the fees or submit a prisoner authorization before the action could proceed.
What happened
Robert Moore, who is representing himself and is being held at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island, filed this civil action against The State of New York and others. He submitted an application to proceed without paying fees in advance but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Moore, within 30 days, either to pay $400 in fees or submit the completed authorization. That authorization would allow installments of the $350 filing fee to be deducted from his prison trust account and would provide the court with certified account statements for the past six months.
Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk to mail the order to Moore, stated that no summons would issue yet, and said the case would proceed if Moore complied; otherwise, the action would be dismissed. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Moore v. The State of New York · No. 1:20-cv-00426
- Colleen McMahon
- Jan. 17, 2020
Background
Robert Moore filed this civil action against The State of New York and others while being held at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island. The opinion states that Moore was proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Filing-fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or ask to proceed without prepayment by submitting a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants permission to proceed without prepayment, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires collection of the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner's trust account. The authorization also directs the facility to make those deductions and send the court certified copies of the prisoner's trust-account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment.
Order
The court ordered Moore to pay the $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization within 30 days of the order. If he submits the authorization, it must identify docket number 1:20-CV-0426 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Moore a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Moore complied and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the permitted time.
The court 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 opinion also cautioned that certain future dismissals could count as strikes under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which can limit a prisoner's ability to file future federal civil actions without prepaying fees.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.