Monroe v. Fields
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-01585
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Monroe v. Fields, Judge McMahon ordered Savata Monroe to pay a $5 fee or submit an IFP application within 30 days.
Savata Monroe must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed. Leroy Fields was not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
In Monroe v. Fields, Savata Monroe filed a petition asking for habeas-corpus relief but did not pay the required filing fee or submit an application to proceed without paying it upfront.
The court ordered Monroe to pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. The court said no response from Leroy Fields was required yet and warned that the case would be dismissed if Monroe did not comply.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Monroe v. Fields · No. 1:20-cv-01585
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 25, 2020
Background
Savata Monroe, representing themself without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against Leroy Fields. The petition was submitted without the $5 filing fee and without an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without paying court fees in advance.
Order
The court directed Monroe, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit the attached signed IFP application. The application was to include docket number 20-CV-1585 (CM). The court explained that, if it granted the IFP application, Monroe could proceed without prepaying fees.
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Monroe and record service on the docket. The court stated that Leroy Fields was not required to respond at that time. If Monroe complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if Monroe did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal-related ruling
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Monroe's habeas petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.