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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled June 1, 2020

Williams v. Cooper

Judge
Louis Stanton
Docket
1:20-cv-04125
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Williams v. Cooper, Judge McMahon ordered Sean Williams to pay fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them.

Who this affects

Sean Williams, who was required to pay the fees or submit the required application within 30 days for the action to proceed.

What happened

Sean Williams brought Williams v. Cooper without a lawyer but did not pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them.

The court gave Williams 30 days to pay $400 or submit a signed application. No summons would issue yet, and the case would be dismissed if he did not comply.

Judge McMahon also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, certifying that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

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

Case
Williams v. Cooper · No. 1:20-cv-04125
Judge
Louis Stanton
Date
June 1, 2020

Background

Sean Williams filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required $400 in filing and administrative fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

The court ordered Williams, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $400 in fees or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees. The court stated that, if it grants the application, Williams may proceed without prepayment. The application was to identify docket number 20-CV-4125 (CM).

The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Williams 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 procedures if Williams complied, and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.

Appeal-fee ruling

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

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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