Medina v. Chinese Government

Background

Leonardo Medina, who was incarcerated at Downstate Correctional Facility and proceeding without a lawyer, filed this action against the Chinese Government and the Town of Wuhan. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without completing an application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Fee and filing requirements

The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, 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 make those deductions and provide certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months.

Ruling

The court ordered Medina to comply within 30 days of the order by either paying the $400 in fees or submitting the required application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-3644 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the action would be dismissed if Medina failed to comply within the permitted time, but the opinion does not state that the action had already been dismissed.

Judge Colleen McMahon certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner filing statute. The order did not address the merits of Medina's claims.