King v. Trump

Background

Gerry Alan King, who was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, brought this action against Donald Trump and other defendants. He proceeded without a lawyer. King submitted his complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Fee and application requirements

The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $50 for the administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

The court ordered King, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization forms, labeled with docket number 20-CV-9268 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail him a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the action would be dismissed if King failed to comply within the allowed time.

Judge Colleen McMahon 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 prepaying fees. The court also cautioned that a prisoner's action dismissed as frivolous or for failure to state a claim counts as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g); after three such strikes, a prisoner generally may not proceed without prepaying fees unless facing imminent danger of serious physical injury.