Banks v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-08791
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Banks v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Judge McMahon ordered payment or fee-waiver paperwork within 30 days before the case could proceed.
Christopher Banks, an incarcerated person representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the specified fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization within 30 days for the case to proceed.
What happened
In Banks v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Christopher Banks filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the paperwork needed to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront. The order identifies Banks as incarcerated and representing himself.
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees or submit a completed fee-waiver application and authorization allowing installment payments from his prison account. The authorization must also permit submission of certified account statements for the previous six months.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered Banks to take one of those steps within 30 days. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Banks v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision · No. 1:20-cv-08791
- Colleen McMahon
- Oct. 26, 2020
Background
Christopher Banks filed this civil action while incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility and representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Fee requirements
The court explained that filing a civil action requires $400 in fees: a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee. A prisoner may instead request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization also directs the facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months. The court noted that the $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court ordered Banks, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $400 in fees or submit the attached fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization. The documents were to identify docket number 20-CV-8791 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail the order to Banks and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Banks complied and would be dismissed if he did not comply within the permitted time.
Appeal and warning
Judge Colleen McMahon certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also warned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the federal prisoner-litigation statute. After three such strikes, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees in a new action unless facing imminent danger of serious physical injury, and must pay the filing fee when filing the new action.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.