Truell v. John/Jane Doe
- Louis Stanton
- 1:20-cv-00839
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Truell v. John/Jane Doe, Judge McMahon gave James Truell 30 days to pay fees or submit authorization and denied fee-free appeal status.
James Truell, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself. The action could be dismissed if he did not pay the fees or submit the required prisoner authorization within 30 days, and he also had to submit a change-of-address form.
What happened
In Truell v. John/Jane Doe, James Truell, who was incarcerated and representing himself, had not paid the filing fees or submitted the required authorization to proceed without paying them upfront. The court had previously warned that failing to comply could result in dismissal.
The court gave Truell one more opportunity: within 30 days, he had to pay $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. He also had to return a change-of-address form so the court could update his address from the George R. Vierno Center to the Otis B. Bantum Center.
The court directed the Clerk to mail the order, ordered that no summons issue yet, and stated that the action would be processed if Truell complied and dismissed if he did not. Judge Colleen McMahon also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Truell v. John/Jane Doe · No. 1:20-cv-00839
- Louis Stanton
- June 16, 2020
Background
James Truell filed the complaint while incarcerated and without a lawyer. The court had ordered him on February 3, 2020, either to pay the fees for bringing the civil action or to request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a prisoner authorization. The court warned that failure to comply could lead to dismissal. Truell later submitted an amended complaint, but the court had not received a prisoner authorization.
The court also learned that Truell had moved from the George R. Vierno Center to the Otis B. Bantum Center after mail was returned as undeliverable. The docket still listed the former address.
Order
The court gave Truell one more opportunity to comply with the February 3 order. Within 30 days of the June 16 order, he had to either pay $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-0839 (CM). He also had to complete and return the attached change-of-address form. The court stated that his address would not be changed on the docket unless he submitted that form.
The court directed the Clerk to mail the order to Truell at the Otis B. Bantum Center and note service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Truell complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and classification
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 order did not decide the underlying claims against John/Jane Doe. It was therefore a procedural order concerning filing-fee compliance and case processing.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.