Gomez-Kadawid v. Lee
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:20-cv-01786
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Gomez-Kadawid v. Lee, Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the prisoner to pay fees or correct his fee-waiver paperwork within 30 days.
Yahkima Gomez-Kadawid, the incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, was required to pay the fees or submit corrected fee-waiver paperwork within 30 days.
What happened
In Gomez-Kadawid v. Lee, Yahkima Gomez-Kadawid filed a civil action while incarcerated and did not pay the filing fees. He submitted paperwork asking to proceed without paying fees upfront, but the application was incomplete and the payment authorization listed $400 instead of the required $350 filing fee.
The court gave him 30 days to either pay $400 or submit the required application and corrected authorization forms. The court also directed the Clerk to mail him the order, and no summons would issue at that time. If he did not comply, the action would be dismissed.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that an appeal from the order could not proceed without prepaid fees because it would not be taken in good faith. The order warned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike affecting the prisoner’s ability to file future actions without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Gomez-Kadawid v. Lee · No. 1:20-cv-01786
- Valerie Caproni
- Mar. 5, 2020
Background
Yahkima Gomez-Kadawid, who was incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without paying the filing and administrative fees. The opinion states that he was representing himself.
A prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner must submit a signed application and an authorization allowing those deductions, along with certified account statements for the previous six months.
Gomez-Kadawid submitted a handwritten application and authorization, but the court stated that the application lacked information needed to determine eligibility. The authorization also listed $400 as the amount to be deducted, although the amount subject to installment collection was $350.
Order
The court ordered Gomez-Kadawid, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the full $400 in fees, or submit the attached application and authorization forms. The court instructed him to label those forms with docket number 20-CV-1786 (CM).
The Clerk 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 order stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if he complied and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Additional Rulings and Warnings
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 permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also warned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), potentially limiting a prisoner’s ability to file future actions without prepaying fees.
Disposition
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon issued an order directing payment of fees or submission of corrected paperwork; the opinion does not state that the action was dismissed at that time.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.