Johnson v. Court of Appeals
- Louis Stanton
- 1:20-cv-05480
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Jerry L. Johnson v. Court of Appeals, Judge McMahon ordered Johnson to pay fees or submit authorization before the case could proceed.
Jerry L. Johnson, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
Jerry L. Johnson, an incarcerated person representing himself, sued the Court of Appeals and other defendants in federal court. He submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court explained that Johnson must either pay $400 in fees or authorize deductions from his prison account for the $350 filing fee. The authorization must also allow the court to receive certified account statements from the previous six months.
Judge McMahon gave Johnson 30 days to comply and said the action will be dismissed if he does not. The court also directed that no summons issue yet and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. Court of Appeals · No. 1:20-cv-05480
- Louis Stanton
- July 20, 2020
Background
Jerry L. Johnson, who was incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, commonly called an application to proceed without fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Under the cited federal statutes, a prisoner who seeks to proceed without prepaying fees must either pay the required fees or submit a signed application and authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified copies of the prisoner’s account statements for the preceding six months. The court noted that the $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court ordered Johnson, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $400 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee, or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. The authorization was to identify docket number 20-CV-5480 (CM).
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Johnson a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Johnson 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.
Other ruling and effect
Judge Colleen McMahon certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also warned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a statutory “strike,” and that three such strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.