Johnson v. State of New York
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-01164
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Johnson v. State of New York, Judge McMahon ordered payment or an IFP application within 30 days and denied IFP status for appeal.
Robert W. Johnson, who must pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Johnson v. State of New York, Robert W. Johnson filed a civil action without a lawyer but did not pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Johnson 30 days to pay $400 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Johnson and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order. The court did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. State of New York · No. 1:20-cv-01164
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 13, 2020
Background
Robert W. Johnson brought this action without a lawyer against the State of New York and other defendants. He submitted a complaint but did not pay the $400 required fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee, and did not submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Court’s Order
The court ordered Johnson, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 in fees or submit the attached signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The application was to include docket number 1:20-CV-1164 (CM). If the court granted the application, Johnson could proceed without paying the fees in advance.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail Johnson a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Johnson complied, and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Ruling and Effect
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 purposes of an appeal. This order addressed fees and the application process; it did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.