Tyler v. Maggio
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-01242
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Tyler v. Maggio, Judge McMahon ordered Tyler to pay filing fees or authorize installment deductions before the case proceeds.
Taren Tyler, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, was required to pay the fees or submit a prisoner authorization before the action could proceed.
What happened
Taren Tyler, who was incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action against Det. Maggio and others. Tyler submitted an application to proceed without paying the fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The authorization would allow the court to collect the $350 filing fee in installments from Tyler’s account and obtain certified account statements for the prior six months. Within 30 days, Tyler had to either pay the full $400 in fees or submit the authorization labeled with the case number.
Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk to mail the order to Tyler and said no summons would issue yet. The case would proceed if Tyler complied; if he did not, the action would be dismissed. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Tyler v. Maggio · No. 1:20-cv-01242
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 13, 2020
Background
Taren Tyler filed this civil action while incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility and proceeded without a lawyer. The opinion identifies Det. Maggio and other defendants but does not describe the underlying claims.
A prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $50 for the administrative fee—or apply to proceed without prepaying the fees. Tyler submitted an application to proceed without prepayment but did not submit the separate prisoner authorization required by the court.
Order
The prisoner authorization would direct the facility holding Tyler to deduct the $350 filing fee from his account in installments and send the court certified copies of his account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court ordered Tyler, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $400 in fees or submit the completed prisoner authorization. The authorization had to be labeled with docket number 20-CV-1242 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Tyler a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time.
Effect of the Order
The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Tyler complied. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the merits of Tyler’s claims. It additionally cautioned that a later dismissal as frivolous or for failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner litigation statute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.