McDaniel v. The City of New York
- Louis Stanton
- 1:20-cv-08348
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In McDaniel v. The City of New York, Judge Stanton ordered McDaniel to pay fees or submit proper forms within 30 days.
Curtis McDaniel was required to pay $400 or submit a proper fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization within 30 days. The case would be dismissed if he failed to comply, and no summons would issue before compliance.
What happened
In McDaniel v. The City of New York, Curtis McDaniel filed a civil case without paying the required fees or completing an application to proceed without prepaying them. His prisoner authorization directed payments to a different federal court.
The court ordered McDaniel, within 30 days, either to pay $400 or submit a signed application and corrected prisoner authorization for this case. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that it would dismiss the action if he did not comply.
Judge Louis Stanton’s supplied case information identifies him as the judge, although the opinion text identifies Chief Judge Colleen McMahon and contains an unclear signature. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- McDaniel v. The City of New York · No. 1:20-cv-08348
- Louis Stanton
- Oct. 9, 2020
Background
Curtis McDaniel, who was incarcerated and represented himself, filed this action against The City of New York, a John Doe superintendent, and a John Doe head of a medical unit. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees. He did submit a prisoner authorization, but it directed deductions from his prison account for payment to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York rather than to this court.
Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a correct prisoner authorization. The authorization permits installment deductions from the prison account for the filing fee and permits the court to obtain certified account statements for the prior six months.
The court ordered McDaniel to comply within 30 days of the order by either paying the $400 or submitting the attached application and corrected authorization labeled with docket number 20-CV-8348 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail the order to him and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed if he complied and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and warning
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 appeal without prepaying fees. The order also warned that a later dismissal as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim could count as a statutory “strike” affecting McDaniel’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees in future prisoner civil actions.
Judge identification
The supplied case information identifies Judge Louis Stanton. The opinion text, however, identifies Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon, and the reproduced signature is unclear.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.