Izeh v. NYPD
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-06869
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Izeh v. NYPD, Judge McMahon ordered Matthew Izeh to pay filing fees or submit a fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Matthew Izeh, a detained plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit a completed application to proceed without paying them upfront within 30 days; the case may be dismissed if he does not comply.
What happened
Matthew Izeh, who was detained on Rikers Island and represented himself, filed Izeh v. NYPD in the Southern District of New York. The opinion does not address the underlying claims.
The court ordered Izeh, within 30 days, either to pay $400 in filing and administrative fees or submit a completed application to proceed without paying fees upfront. He had submitted a prisoner authorization but not the required application. No summons would issue at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon stated that the case would be processed if Izeh complied and would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Izeh v. NYPD · No. 1:20-cv-06869
- Colleen McMahon
- Sept. 2, 2020
Background
Matthew Izeh filed this civil action while detained on Rikers Island and proceeded without a lawyer. The opinion does not describe the substance of his claims against NYPD or the other defendants.
Fee requirement
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $50 for the administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying the fees. That request is called an application to proceed in forma pauperis, or IFP. If an IFP application is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act; the $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted IFP status.
Izeh had submitted a prisoner authorization but had not submitted a completed IFP application. The court ordered him to pay the $400 or submit the completed application within 30 days of the order, labeling it with docket number 20-CV-6869 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time.
Ruling and consequences
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered that the action would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Izeh complied. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The court 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 IFP status for an appeal. The court cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which can limit a prisoner's ability to file future actions without prepaying fees after three strikes, subject to the statutory exception for imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.