Singleton v. City of New York Comptroller Office
- Louis Stanton
- 1:20-cv-08591
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Aaron Singleton v. City of New York Comptroller Officer, Judge McMahon ordered a prisoner to submit authorization or pay fees before the case could proceed.
Aaron Singleton, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, whose case could proceed only if he paid the required fees or submitted the required prisoner authorization within 30 days.
What happened
In Aaron Singleton v. City of New York Comptroller Officer, Aaron Singleton, who is incarcerated at Rikers Island and is representing himself, filed a civil action and submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court ordered Singleton, within 30 days, either to pay $400 in fees or submit a signed prisoner authorization. That authorization would permit installment deductions for the $350 filing fee and require certified copies of his account statements from the previous six months. The court said no summons would issue at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered that the case be processed if Singleton complied and said the action would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to proceed without paying fees on appeal and cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under federal law.
The detailed version
- Singleton v. City of New York Comptroller Office · No. 1:20-cv-08591
- Louis Stanton
- Oct. 30, 2020
Background
Aaron Singleton, who was incarcerated at Rikers Island, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Fee and Authorization Requirements
The court explained that a prisoner who wants to proceed without prepaying fees must submit both an application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization directs the facility holding the prisoner to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner's account in installments and to send the court certified account statements for the previous six months. The court stated that the total fees were $400: a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee. The administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
Within 30 days of the order, Singleton had to either pay the $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-8591 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that, if Singleton 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.
Judge Colleen McMahon certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The court also cautioned that a dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), limiting a prisoner's ability to proceed without prepaying fees after three strikes unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Classification Basis
This was a procedural order concerning the filing-fee and prisoner-authorization requirements. The court did not decide the merits of Singleton's underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.