Davis v. Port Jervis Community Development
- Louis Stanton
- 1:20-cv-01341
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Davis v. Port Jervis Community Development, Chief Judge McMahon ordered payment or a proper fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Daryl J. Davis, who must either pay the required fees or submit a completed federal fee-waiver application within 30 days to continue the action; PJCDA is the named defendant.
What happened
Daryl J. Davis filed Davis v. Port Jervis Community Development Agency (PJCDA) without a lawyer. The complaint was captioned for New York's Court of Claims, and Davis submitted only the first page of a state-court fee-waiver form.
The court explained that starting a civil case requires paying $400 in fees or submitting a signed application to proceed without paying fees in advance. Davis was given 30 days to pay the fees or submit the completed federal application.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk to mail the order to Davis, directed that no summons issue yet, and stated that the case would be dismissed if Davis did not comply. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Davis v. Port Jervis Community Development · No. 1:20-cv-01341
- Louis Stanton
- Feb. 18, 2020
Background
Daryl J. Davis brought this civil action without a lawyer. Davis submitted a complaint captioned for the State of New York Court of Claims, along with only the first page of a two-page state-court affidavit form concerning payment of fees.
Court’s order
The court explained that a plaintiff starting a civil action in the Southern District of New York must either pay $400 in fees— consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court gave Davis 30 days from the order’s date to pay the fees or complete and submit the attached two-page application for this federal court, labeled with docket number 20-CV-1341 (CM).
The court stated that, if the application is granted, Davis may proceed without prepaying fees. The Clerk was directed to mail the order to Davis and note service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Davis complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if Davis failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal-fee ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying claims against Port Jervis Community Development Agency (PJCDA).
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.