Bastien v. Cheli
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-01721
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Bastien v. Cheli, Judge McMahon ordered Sandy Bastien to pay fees or amend his fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Sandy Bastien, who was required to pay the filing fees or provide a complete amended application to proceed without prepayment.
What happened
In Bastien v. Cheli, Sandy Bastien filed the case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying the court fees upfront.
The court found that Bastien’s application did not provide enough information about his income, expenses, assets, or how he supported himself. The court therefore could not determine whether he was unable to pay the $400 in filing and administrative fees.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered Bastien, within 30 days, either to pay the fees or submit a complete amended application. The court said the case would be dismissed if he did not comply and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Bastien v. Cheli · No. 1:20-cv-01721
- Colleen McMahon
- Apr. 3, 2020
Background
Sandy Bastien brought this action without a lawyer. To proceed in federal court, he had to pay $400 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application asking to proceed without prepaying those fees. Bastien submitted such an application, but stated that he was not employed and did not fully answer questions about his income and financial situation.
Court’s Analysis
The court concluded that Bastien had not provided enough information about his income, expenses, assets, or how he supported himself. Because of those omissions, the court could not determine that he lacked enough funds to pay the fees.
Order
The court ordered Bastien to do one of two things within 30 days: pay the $400 in fees or submit an amended application. The amended application had to answer every question, identify all sources of income and monthly expenses, describe how he supported himself, and include docket number 20-CV-1721 (CM). If the court granted the amended application, Bastien could proceed without prepaying fees. If he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
The court also certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.