Fletcher v. Guzman
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-03082
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fletcher v. Guzman, Judge McMahon ordered Shawn Fletcher to pay $400 or submit fee-waiver forms within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Shawn Fletcher, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must pay the required fees or submit the specified application and authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Fletcher v. Guzman, Shawn Fletcher, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the required forms.
The court gave Fletcher 30 days to either pay $400 or submit an application to proceed without paying the fees upfront and a prisoner authorization form. The authorization would allow installment payments from his prison account. No summons would issue at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk to mail Fletcher the order and stated that the action will be dismissed if he does not comply. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees for an appeal and warned that certain future dismissals could count as strikes under federal law.
The detailed version
- Fletcher v. Guzman · No. 1:20-cv-03082
- Colleen McMahon
- Apr. 28, 2020
Background
Shawn Fletcher filed a civil action against Dr. Guzman and other defendants. The opinion states that Fletcher was incarcerated at Otisville Correctional Facility and was proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without completing an application to proceed without prepaying those fees or a prisoner authorization.
Payment and application requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—$350 for filing and $50 for administration—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to send the court certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months.
Order
The court ordered Fletcher, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization. The documents were to identify docket number 20-CV-3082 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Fletcher a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures if Fletcher complied and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Judge Colleen McMahon also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying appeal fees. The order further cautioned that a prisoner's dismissal for being frivolous or for failing to state a claim can count as a strike under federal law, and that three strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.