Moussaoui v. J. Well Dixon, Esq.
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-07341
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Moussaoui v. Dixon, Judge McMahon ordered Moussaoui to pay fees or request a fee waiver before the case could proceed.
Zacarias Moussaoui, the incarcerated plaintiff, was required to pay the filing fees or submit the required fee-waiver and prisoner-authorization forms before the case could proceed.
What happened
In Moussaoui v. J. Well Dixon, Esq., Zacarias Moussaoui filed a civil case without a lawyer while incarcerated. Judge McMahon’s order addressed only the filing requirements and did not decide the claims against the defendant.
The court gave Moussaoui 30 days to either pay $400 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without paying the fees upfront, along with authorization for prison-account deductions. The court said no summons would be issued yet and warned that the case would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order warned that a future dismissal as frivolous or for failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner-fee law.
The detailed version
- Moussaoui v. J. Well Dixon, Esq. · No. 1:20-cv-07341
- Colleen McMahon
- Sept. 10, 2020
Background
Zacarias Moussaoui filed this civil action without a lawyer while incarcerated at USP Florence ADMAX. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or the required prisoner authorization.
Order
The court ordered Moussaoui, within 30 days of the order, to choose one of two options: pay $400 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee, or submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from his prison account. The authorization also directs the facility to deduct those payments and provide certified copies of his account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a prisoner granted this fee-waiver status.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Moussaoui and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order stated that, if Moussaoui complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he did not comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and warning
Judge Colleen McMahon certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also cautioned that a prisoner’s later action dismissed as frivolous or for failure to state a claim would count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). After three strikes, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees unless the statutory imminent-danger exception applies.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.