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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Apr. 9, 2020

Johnson-El v. Deprospo

Judge
Louis Stanton
Docket
1:20-cv-02878
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Johnson-El v. Deprospo, Judge McMahon ordered payment of fees or an application to proceed without paying them within 30 days.

Who this affects

The pro se plaintiff, Jeremiah S. Johnson-El, was required to pay the filing fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them.

What happened

In Johnson-El v. Deprospo, the pro se plaintiff filed a civil action without paying the required $400 in fees or submitting an application to proceed without paying them.

The court ordered the plaintiff to pay the fees or submit a signed application within 30 days of the order. No summons would issue at that time, and the action would be dismissed if the plaintiff did not comply.

Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Johnson-El v. Deprospo · No. 1:20-cv-02878
Judge
Louis Stanton
Date
Apr. 9, 2020

Background

Jeremiah S. Johnson-El, appearing without a lawyer, filed a civil action against William L. DeProspo, doing business as County Court Magistrate. The complaint was submitted without the required filing fees and without an application to proceed without paying those fees.

Order

The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay $400—the $350 filing fee and $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The court gave the plaintiff 30 days from the date of the order to do one of those two things.

If the court grants the application, the plaintiff may proceed without paying the fees in advance. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to the plaintiff and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.

Disposition

The court did not decide the underlying claims. It ordered the plaintiff to pay the fees or submit the application within the stated period and said the action would be dismissed if the plaintiff failed to comply. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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