Kirkland v. New York State Division of Parole
- Louis Stanton
- 1:20-cv-08606
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Kirkland v. New York State Division of Parole, Judge McMahon ordered payment or a corrected fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Tarence Kirkland, whose case could be dismissed without prejudice if he did not pay the required fees or submit a complete amended fee-waiver application within 30 days.
What happened
In Kirkland v. New York State Division of Parole, Tarence Kirkland filed the case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying the filing fee upfront. His application said he had no income or assets but did not explain how he paid his expenses.
The court said the application was incomplete and therefore could not determine whether Kirkland was unable to pay. It ordered him, within 30 days, either to pay $400 or submit a completed application with facts supporting his inability to pay. No summons would be issued at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered that the case would be processed if Kirkland complied, but would be dismissed without prejudice if he did not. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Kirkland v. New York State Division of Parole · No. 1:20-cv-08606
- Louis Stanton
- Oct. 15, 2020
Background
Tarence Kirkland brought this civil action without a lawyer. To begin a civil case in federal court, a person generally must either pay the required fees or submit an application asking to proceed without paying those fees upfront. The opinion states that the total fees were $400: a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee.
Kirkland submitted an application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an IFP application. He stated that he had no income from any source and no assets, but he did not answer how he was paying his expenses.
Court’s analysis
Because the application did not answer that question, the court found it incomplete. The court stated that it could not determine from the application whether Kirkland was unable to pay the filing fee.
Order and effect
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered Kirkland, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $400 in fees or submit an amended IFP application. The amended application had to use docket number 20-CV-8606 (CM), fully address the missing information, and provide facts establishing that he could not pay the fees.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail Kirkland a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Kirkland complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the dismissal would not bar refiling. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.