Gayle v. City of New York
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-05018
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Gayle v. City of New York, Judge McMahon ordered Gayle to pay fees or request permission to proceed without prepaying them within 30 days.
Telloney Gayle and the initial processing of Gayle's case; the order requires Gayle to pay the fees or submit the required application and authorization within 30 days.
What happened
Telloney Gayle, who was incarcerated at Rikers Island and represented without a lawyer, filed this case against the City of New York.
The court said Gayle had to pay the required $400 in fees or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, along with the required prisoner authorization, within 30 days. Gayle had submitted the authorization but not the application.
Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk to send Gayle the order, said no summons would issue yet, and warned that the case would be dismissed if Gayle did not comply. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Gayle v. City of New York · No. 1:20-cv-05018
- Colleen McMahon
- July 7, 2020
Background
Telloney Gayle filed this civil action against the City of New York while incarcerated at Rikers Island. The opinion states that Gayle was proceeding without a lawyer. It does not describe the underlying claims.
Fee Requirement
The court ordered Gayle, within 30 days of the order, to either pay $400 in filing fees or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The $400 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee. Gayle had submitted a prisoner authorization but had not submitted a completed application.
If the court grants the application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization permits those withdrawals and requires certified account statements for the preceding six months to be sent to the court. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order and Effect
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Gayle and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Gayle complied, but that the action would be dismissed if Gayle did not comply within the allowed period.
Judge Colleen McMahon also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order further cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the federal prisoner-litigation statute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.