McDaniel v. NYC Fire Department
- Katherine Failla
- 1:20-cv-00995
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In McDaniel v. NYC Fire Department, Judge McMahon ordered the incarcerated plaintiff to pay fees or submit authorization before the case could proceed.
Curtis McDaniel, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, was required to pay the filing fees or submit a prisoner authorization before the case could proceed.
What happened
In McDaniel v. NYC Fire Department, Curtis McDaniel, who was incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying the court fees in advance but did not submit the required authorization for withdrawals from his prison account.
The court ordered McDaniel, within 30 days, either to pay the $400 in fees or submit the authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee and provide the court with six months of account statements.
Judge McMahon directed the Clerk to mail the order to McDaniel and said no summons would issue yet. The case would proceed if he complied; if he did not, the action would be dismissed. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- McDaniel v. NYC Fire Department · No. 1:20-cv-00995
- Katherine Failla
- Feb. 19, 2020
Background
Curtis McDaniel, who was incarcerated at Downstate Correctional Facility and was representing himself, filed this action against NYC Fire Department and other defendants. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Required Filing or Payment
The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $400 in fees or request permission to proceed without prepayment. If permission is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization permits those withdrawals and requires submission of certified account statements for the previous six months. The court also noted that the $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment.
Order
The court ordered McDaniel to pay the $400 in fees or submit the completed prisoner authorization within 30 days. The authorization was to include docket number 20-CV-0995 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail the order to McDaniel and record service on the docket, and no summons was to issue at that time. If McDaniel complied, the Clerk's Office would process the case under its procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. Judge Colleen McMahon 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 underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.