Dunn v. Sullivan Co. Jail
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-03081
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Dunn v. Sullivan Co. Jail, Judge McMahon ordered a corrected prisoner authorization or payment of filing fees within 30 days.
Robert L. Dunn, Sr., whose case was required to comply with the court’s fee-payment or prisoner-authorization requirements before proceeding.
What happened
In Dunn v. Sullivan County Jail, Robert L. Dunn, Sr., who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront and a prisoner authorization.
The authorization allowed collection of only $150, but the court said it needed to authorize collection of the $350 filing fee. The court gave Dunn 30 days either to pay $400 in fees or submit the attached authorization allowing the required deductions.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the updated authorization, directed the Clerk to mail the order, and said no summons would issue yet. If Dunn does not comply, the action will be dismissed; the court also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Dunn v. Sullivan Co. Jail · No. 1:20-cv-03081
- Colleen McMahon
- Apr. 20, 2020
Background
Robert L. Dunn, Sr., is incarcerated in Sullivan County Jail and brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees and a prisoner authorization.
Under the laws cited by the court, a prisoner who receives permission to proceed without prepaying fees must allow the court to collect the $350 filing fee in installments from the prison account. The prisoner authorization must also direct the facility to provide certified account statements for the prior six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.
Court’s Ruling
The court found that Dunn’s authorization allowed collection of only $150, rather than the full $350 filing fee. It ordered Dunn, within 30 days of April 20, 2020, either to pay the full $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-3081 (CM).
The court directed the Clerk to mail Dunn a copy of the order and note service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Dunn complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order cautioned that a later dismissal of a prisoner’s action as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim can count as a strike under the cited law.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.