Reid v. The City of New York

Background

Cedric Reid filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The order states that Reid was incarcerated at Great Meadow Correctional Facility and was representing himself.

Payment and filing requirements

The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $400—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Reid had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow the court to collect the $350 filing fee in installments from his prison account and would require certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $50 administrative fee would not apply if the court granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

The court ordered Reid, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 or submit the required application and authorization forms labeled with docket number 20-CV-9243 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Reid a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.

Disposition

The order did not decide the underlying claims. It directed Reid to satisfy the payment or filing requirements. It stated that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time. The court also 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. Finally, the order cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a qualifying dismissal, or “strike,” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).