Hamm v. City University of New York
- Louis Stanton
- 1:20-cv-02876
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 7
In Hamm v. City University of New York, Judge McMahon ordered Jeffery Hamm to pay fees or file an amended application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days.
Jeffery Hamm, who was required to pay the specified fees or submit an amended application to proceed without prepaying fees and to keep the court informed of address changes.
What happened
Hamm v. City University of New York concerns Jeffery Hamm, who was detained when he filed the case and later was no longer in custody. He had not paid the filing fee or received a decision on his application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court ordered Hamm to either pay $400 in filing and administrative fees or submit an amended application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. He also had to keep the court informed of address changes. The court directed the clerk to mail him the order and a change-of-address form, and no summons would issue at that time.
Judge McMahon stated that failure to comply would result in dismissal for failure to follow the order, without prejudice to refiling. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal because it certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Hamm v. City University of New York · No. 1:20-cv-02876
- Louis Stanton
- Apr. 30, 2020
Background
Jeffery Hamm proceeded without a lawyer and was detained at the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island when he filed this action. He did not pay the filing fee. Before the court decided his application to proceed without prepaying fees, a search of the New York City Department of Correction website showed that he was no longer in custody.
The court explained that the Prison Litigation Reform Act applies based on whether a person was a prisoner when the complaint was filed. For a prisoner proceeding without prepaying fees, the Act generally requires payment of the $350 filing fee in installments from the prison trust account and may limit fee-free filing under the three-strikes rule. The court also noted that release does not eliminate the possibility that a dismissal for failure to state a claim, frivolousness, or maliciousness could count as a strike if the plaintiff was a prisoner when the case began.
Order
Because Hamm was no longer in custody, the court stated that his obligation to pay fees had to be determined under the rules applicable to non-prisoners. The court ordered him, if he wished to continue prosecuting the action without prepaying fees, to submit an amended application within 30 days. Alternatively, he could prepay $400, consisting of the $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee applicable to litigants who do not proceed without prepaying fees.
The clerk was directed to mail the order and a change-of-address form to Hamm at the address listed in his complaint and to record service on the docket. Hamm was required to notify the court of updates to his address. No summons would issue at that time.
Disposition
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered payment of the $400 in fees or submission of an amended application within 30 days. The order states that failure to comply would result in dismissal for failure to comply with the order, without prejudice to refiling. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.