Robinson v. The Division of Parole

Background

Eddie Robinson brought this civil action while incarcerated at the Robert N. Davoren Complex at Rikers Island and proceeding without a lawyer. He filed a complaint with a prisoner authorization, but he did not file a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees.

Fee requirement

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees, together with a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected from the prisoner’s account in installments. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.

Order

The court ordered Robinson, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 or submit the attached application, labeled with docket number 20-CV-5470 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Robinson a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Robinson complied and would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed period.

Judge Colleen McMahon also 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 address the merits of Robinson’s claims against the Division of Parole or the other defendants. It also cautioned that a later dismissal of a prisoner’s federal civil action as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim can count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).