Carter v. New York Stock Exchange,

Background

Terence Mack Carter brought this civil action without a lawyer while incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Mendota, California. He filed the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Payment and filing requirements

The court stated that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Carter had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization directs the correctional facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner's account in installments and requires certified copies of account statements for the preceding six months to be sent to the court. The court also noted that the $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

Judge Colleen McMahon ordered Carter, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $400 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization. The documents were to identify docket number 20-CV-4823 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Carter and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order stated that, if Carter complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the court would dismiss the action.

The court 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, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a statutory "strike" affecting Carter's ability to proceed without prepaying fees in future federal civil actions.