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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Apr. 28, 2020

El v. All foreign Agents and Agencies of the United States Corporation Company

Full caption

Amu'Ra El v. All foreign Agents and Agencies of the United States Corporation Company

Judge
Louis Stanton
Docket
1:20-cv-03222
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Amu’Ra El v. All Foreign Agents, Judge McMahon ordered payment or an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days.

Who this affects

Chief Jamal Babatundi Amu’Ra El, who must either pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.

What happened

In Chief Jamal Babatundi Amu’Ra El v. All Foreign Agents and Agencies of the United States Corporation Company, the plaintiff filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them.

The court explained that filing the case requires either $400 in fees or a signed application showing that the plaintiff seeks permission to proceed without paying those fees in advance. The plaintiff was given 30 days to provide one of those items.

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the plaintiff to pay the fees or submit the application. She directed that no summons issue yet and warned that the action will be dismissed if the plaintiff does not comply. She also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

The detailed version

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

Case
El v. All foreign Agents and Agencies of the United States Corporation Company · No. 1:20-cv-03222
Judge
Louis Stanton
Date
Apr. 28, 2020

Background

Chief Jamal Babatundi Amu’Ra El brought the action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without the required filing and administrative fees and without an application to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

The court stated that a civil action requires payment of $400: a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee. Instead of paying, a plaintiff may submit a signed application under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the plaintiff, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 or submit the attached application labeled with docket number 20-CV-3222 (CM). If the application is granted, the plaintiff may proceed without prepaying the fees. The clerk was directed to mail the order to the plaintiff and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that the action will be dismissed if the plaintiff does not comply within the allowed time.

The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order additionally encouraged people proceeding without lawyers to file by email or, if unable to use email, by mail or at a courthouse drop box.

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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