Jordan v. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-04126
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Jordan v. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Judge McMahon ordered Jordan to pay fees or file an IFP application within 30 days.
Janessa Jordan, who was required to pay the filing and administrative fees or submit a signed IFP application within 30 days; the underlying claims were not decided.
What happened
Janessa Jordan brought this case without a lawyer against the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, but submitted neither the required fees nor an application to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court ordered Jordan, within 30 days, to pay $400 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. No summons would issue at that time, and failure to comply would result in dismissal of the action.
Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Jordan v. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance · No. 1:20-cv-04126
- Colleen McMahon
- June 11, 2020
Background
Janessa Jordan filed this action without a lawyer. The opinion states that she submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The opinion does not address the substance of her claims against the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
Order
The court explained that a civil action requires either payment of $400—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or a signed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees. The court ordered Jordan to take one of those steps within 30 days of the order. If she submits an IFP application and the court grants it, she may proceed without prepaying the fees.
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Jordan a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Jordan complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if she did not comply within the allowed period, the court stated that it would dismiss the action.
Appeal and disposition
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. This was a procedural order about payment of fees or an IFP application, not a decision on the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.