Brown v. State of New York
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-05280
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Brown v. State of New York, Judge McMahon ordered Noel Brown to pay $5 or submit a fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Noel Brown, who was required to pay the filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees; the State of New York was not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
Brown v. State of New York concerns Noel Brown’s petition for a federal court writ of habeas relief. Brown was representing himself when he filed the petition without paying the required filing fee or submitting an application to avoid paying it upfront.
The court ordered Brown, within 30 days, to either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application showing that he seeks permission to proceed without prepaying fees. The clerk was directed to mail him the order, and the State was not required to respond at that time. If Brown did not comply, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the substance of Brown’s petition.
The detailed version
- Brown v. State of New York · No. 1:20-cv-05280
- Colleen McMahon
- July 13, 2020
Background
Noel Brown, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against the State of New York. The opinion states that a petitioner must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees. Brown submitted neither the fee nor the application.
Order
The court ordered Brown to comply within 30 days of the order’s date. He had to either pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit the attached application. The application was to include docket number 20-CV-5280 (CM). If the court granted the application, Brown could proceed without prepaying fees.
The clerk was directed to mail Brown a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No answer from the State of New York was required at that time. The order states that, if Brown failed to comply within the permitted time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Effect
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. This order addressed filing requirements and did not reach the merits of Brown’s petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.