Ortiz v. Superintendent
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-05572
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ortiz v. Superintendent, Judge McMahon ordered Edwin Ortiz to pay fees or submit forms to proceed without prepaying, warning the case could be dismissed.
Edwin Ortiz, the incarcerated plaintiff, had to pay the required fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days to continue the action. The case could be dismissed without prejudice if he failed to comply.
What happened
Edwin Ortiz filed Ortiz v. Superintendent of Clinton Correctional Facility while incarcerated and without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Ortiz 30 days to either pay $400 in fees or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installment deductions from his prisoner account. The authorization also had to provide six months of account statements.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk to mail Ortiz the order, directed that no summons issue yet, and stated that failure to comply would lead to dismissal without prejudice to refiling. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Ortiz v. Superintendent · No. 1:20-cv-05572
- Colleen McMahon
- July 21, 2020
Background
Edwin Ortiz, who was incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. He was representing himself.
What the court ordered
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400—the $350 filing fee and $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without prepaying the fees. To make that request, Ortiz had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization.
The authorization would allow the court to collect the $350 filing fee in installments from Ortiz’s prisoner account and would require certified copies of his account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.
The court gave Ortiz 30 days from the date of the order to pay the fees or submit the required forms labeled with docket number 20-CV-5572 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.
Disposition and effect
Judge Colleen McMahon stated that if Ortiz did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.