Bacon v. Evans
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:20-cv-06337
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Bacon v. Evans, Chief Judge McMahon ordered Bacon to pay fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Ryan-Mykal S. Bacon was required to pay the stated fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days; the action could be dismissed if he did not comply.
What happened
In Bacon v. Evans, Ryan-Mykal S. Bacon, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action and requested permission to proceed without paying fees upfront. He submitted the required financial application but not the separate authorization needed to deduct filing-fee payments from his prison account.
The court gave Bacon 30 days to either pay $400 or submit the prisoner authorization. The order states that the case will be dismissed if he does not comply, and that no summons would issue at that time. The court also denied permission to proceed without fees for an appeal from this order.
Chief Judge McMahon issued the order on August 14, 2020. The order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the underlying claims against Joshua Evans.
The detailed version
- Bacon v. Evans · No. 7:20-cv-06337
- Kenneth Karas
- Aug. 14, 2020
Background
Ryan-Mykal S. Bacon, who was incarcerated at Sullivan Correctional Facility, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Court’s requirements
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 request permission to proceed without prepaying the fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and requires certified account statements for the previous six months to be sent to the court. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a prisoner granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court ordered Bacon, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-6337 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Bacon and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Bacon 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 caution
The court 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 proceed without prepaying fees for that appeal. The court also cautioned that certain dismissals of a prisoner’s federal civil actions can count as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which can limit future permission to proceed without prepaying fees after three strikes, subject to the statutory exception for imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Disposition
This was a procedural order concerning filing fees and prisoner authorization. The court did not decide the underlying claims against Joshua Evans.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.