Moussaoui v. Rosendahl
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-07339
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Moussaoui v. Rosendahl, Chief Judge McMahon gave Moussaoui 30 days to pay fees or submit forms to proceed without prepayment.
Zacarias Moussaoui, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the forms needed to request permission to proceed without prepaying them.
What happened
In Moussaoui v. Rosendahl, Zacarias Moussaoui, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying upfront.
The court ordered Moussaoui, within 30 days, either to pay $400.00 or to submit a completed application and authorization allowing filing-fee payments to be deducted from his prison account. No summons would issue at that time. If he did not comply, the action would be dismissed.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that an appeal from the order would not be in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not address the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Moussaoui v. Rosendahl · No. 1:20-cv-07339
- Colleen McMahon
- Sept. 11, 2020
Background
Zacarias Moussaoui filed a civil action against Joyce Ellen Rosendahl while incarcerated at USP Florence ADMAX. He was proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Fee and IFP requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400.00 in fees—$350.00 for the filing fee and $50.00 for the administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed in forma pauperis (without prepaying fees) and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the $350.00 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the facility to make those deductions and provide certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months.
Order
The court ordered Moussaoui to pay the $400.00 or submit the required application and prisoner authorization within 30 days of the order. The forms were to identify docket number 20-CV-7339 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail the order to Moussaoui and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Moussaoui 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.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The court did not decide the merits of Moussaoui's claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.