Herrera v. Trump
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-09388
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Herrera v. Trump, Judge McMahon ordered the incarcerated plaintiff to pay filing fees or submit forms to proceed without prepaying fees.
Christopher William Herrera, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, was required to pay the filing fees or submit forms to seek permission to proceed without prepaying them.
What happened
In Herrera v. Trump, Christopher William Herrera filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and other defendants while representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees or providing a completed application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Herrera 30 days from November 10, 2020, to either pay $400 or submit the required application and authorization forms. The authorization would allow installment payments from his account if the court approved his application.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk to mail Herrera the order and stated that no summons would issue at that time. The court said the action would be dismissed without prejudice if Herrera did not comply, and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Herrera v. Trump · No. 1:20-cv-09388
- Colleen McMahon
- Nov. 10, 2020
Background
Christopher William Herrera, who was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, filed this action without a lawyer. The opinion does not describe the claims or identify the other defendants beyond Donald Trump and the defendants listed in the caption.
Herrera submitted his complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or the required prisoner authorization. The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit the application and authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.
Order
The court ordered Herrera, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization. The forms were to identify docket number 20-CV-9388 (CM). The prisoner authorization would direct the correctional facility to deduct installment payments and provide certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the prior six months.
Ruling and Consequences
Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk to mail the order to Herrera and record service on the docket. The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. It stated that the action would be dismissed without prejudice if Herrera failed to comply within the allowed period. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the federal prisoner-litigation statute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.