Ramos v. City of New York
- Denise Cote
- 1:20-cv-06852
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ramos v. City of New York, Judge McMahon ordered the incarcerated plaintiff to pay filing fees or submit an IFP application within 30 days.
Chauncy Ramos, who was required to pay the fees or submit a completed IFP application and prisoner authorization; the case would be dismissed if he failed to comply.
What happened
In Ramos v. City of New York, Chauncy Ramos, an incarcerated person representing himself, filed a civil action against the City of New York. He submitted a complaint and a prisoner authorization but did not submit a completed application to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court ordered Ramos, within 30 days, either to pay the required $400 in fees or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court explained that, even if the application is approved, the $350 filing fee must be collected from his prison account in installments. No summons would issue at that time.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon issued the order. She directed the Clerk to mail Ramos a copy, stated that the case would proceed under the Clerk’s procedures if he complied, and stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply. She also denied fee-free status for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Ramos v. City of New York · No. 1:20-cv-06852
- Denise Cote
- Sept. 1, 2020
Background
Chauncy Ramos, who was incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and was representing himself, brought this civil action against the City of New York. The opinion does not address the claims’ underlying legal merits.
Ramos submitted his complaint with a prisoner authorization but without a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the court fees. The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed IFP application and prisoner authorization. If IFP status is granted, the $350 filing fee—not the $50 administrative fee—must be collected from the prisoner’s account in installments. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
Ruling
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered Ramos to pay the $400 in fees or submit the attached completed IFP application within 30 days of the order. The application was to identify docket number 20-CV-6852 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Ramos the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Ramos complied and that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order further cautioned that a later dismissal of a prisoner’s action as frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim can count as a “strike” under federal law, and that three such strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding IFP 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.