Caines v. Pacheco
- Nelson Roman
- 7:20-cv-00878
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Caines v. Pacheco, Judge McMahon ordered Kamieo Caines to pay fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Kamieo Caines, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal without prejudice.
What happened
In Caines v. Pacheco, Kamieo Caines, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action and requested permission to proceed without paying fees upfront. He submitted the required financial application but did not submit the separate authorization needed for payments from his prison account.
The court ordered Caines, within 30 days, either to pay $400 in fees or to complete and submit the prisoner authorization. If he submits the authorization, the $350 filing fee will be collected from his account in installments; the $50 administrative fee does not apply to people granted permission to proceed without prepayment.
Judge McMahon directed the Clerk to mail the order and stated that no summons would issue at that time. The case will proceed if Caines complies; if he does not, the action will be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Caines v. Pacheco · No. 7:20-cv-00878
- Nelson Roman
- Feb. 3, 2020
Background
Kamieo Caines, who was incarcerated at Elmira Correctional Facility and proceeding without a lawyer, filed this civil action against Sgt. Pacheco and other defendants. Caines submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Court’s order
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 request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. The authorization directs the correctional facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner’s account in installments and to provide the court with certified account statements for the prior six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment under 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
The court gave Caines 30 days from the date of the order to either pay the $400 or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with the case docket number. The Clerk was directed to mail Caines a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time.
Disposition
The court stated that, if Caines complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order 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), which can limit a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees after three strikes.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.