Geritano v. AUSA Office for The E.D.N.Y.

Background

Battista Geritano, who was incarcerated at Five Points Correctional Facility, filed this action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.

Fee and authorization requirement

The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If permission to proceed without prepaying fees is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires collection of the $350 filing fee through installment deductions from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and requires the correctional facility to provide certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

The court ordered Geritano to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay the $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-0781 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail him a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that, if Geritano complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.

Judge Colleen McMahon certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also cautioned that a prisoner action dismissed as frivolous or for failing to state a claim can count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), and that a prisoner with three strikes generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.