Delorenzo v. Schiff
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-08594
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Delorenzo v. Schiff, Judge McMahon ordered the prisoner to pay fees or authorize withdrawals within 30 days to continue the case.
Paul J. Delorenzo Jr. was required to pay the fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days; the case would be dismissed if he did not comply. The order did not resolve the claims against Mike Schiff or Dr. Weiss.
What happened
In Delorenzo v. Schiff, Paul J. Delorenzo Jr., who was incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization. The authorization permits installment deductions from his account and requires account statements to be sent to the Court.
The Court gave Delorenzo 30 days to either pay the $400 in fees or submit the completed prisoner authorization. The Court directed the Clerk to mail him the order, said that no summons would issue yet, and warned that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims against Mike Schiff or Dr. Weiss.
The detailed version
- Delorenzo v. Schiff · No. 1:20-cv-08594
- Colleen McMahon
- Oct. 16, 2020
Background
Paul J. Delorenzo Jr. brought this civil action while incarcerated at Sullivan County Jail and proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis, but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Under the statutes cited by the Court, a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and requires certified copies of account statements for the previous six months to be sent to the Court. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment.
Order
The Court ordered Delorenzo, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. The authorization was to be labeled with docket number 20-CV-8594 (CM).
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Delorenzo a copy of the order and note service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Delorenzo 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.
Appeal and prisoner-strike 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 paying fees. The Court also cautioned that a future dismissal of a prisoner's federal civil action as frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim can count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). After three such strikes, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees in new actions unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Disposition
Judge Colleen McMahon did not decide the underlying claims against Mike Schiff or Dr. Weiss. The order addressed only the missing prisoner authorization and the requirements for continuing the action.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.