Herring v. Kiszke
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:20-cv-08765
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Herring v. Kiszke, Judge McMahon ordered Walter C. Herring to pay filing fees or submit required forms before the case could proceed.
Walter C. Herring, the incarcerated plaintiff, was required to pay the fees or submit the required forms for his case to proceed.
What happened
Herring v. Kiszke concerns a lawsuit filed by Walter C. Herring, who was incarcerated and represented himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees, did not provide a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, and submitted an outdated prisoner authorization.
The court gave Herring 30 days to pay $400 in fees or submit the required application and authorization forms. The authorization would allow fee payments to be deducted from his prisoner account in installments. The court also directed the Clerk to mail him the order, and no summons would issue at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon stated that the case would be processed if Herring complied and dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees and warned that certain future dismissals could count as strikes under federal law.
The detailed version
- Herring v. Kiszke · No. 7:20-cv-08765
- Kenneth Karas
- Oct. 21, 2020
Background
Walter C. Herring, who was incarcerated at the Orange County Jail, filed this action without a lawyer against Sgt. Keith Kiszke and other defendants. The complaint was submitted without the required filing fees, without a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees, and with an outdated prisoner authorization.
Order
The court ordered Herring, within 30 days, to do one of two things: pay $400 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee, or submit the attached IFP application and prisoner authorization forms. If the court grants IFP status, the prisoner authorization permits the $350 filing fee to be collected from Herring's account in installments and requires certified copies of account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted IFP status.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail Herring a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Herring complied and that the action would be dismissed if he failed to 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 IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The court also cautioned that a prisoner's action dismissed as frivolous or for failing to state a claim can count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), and that three strikes generally prevent a prisoner from filing new actions IFP unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Judge
The order was signed by Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.