Clark v. Department of Corrections

Background

Curtis Clark, who was incarcerated at the Vernon C. Bain Center, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He filed the complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepayment of fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Clark filed the complaint with 49 other detainees and that the claims were later separated into individual cases.

Court’s order

The court directed Clark, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $400 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee, or submit the required application and prisoner authorization forms. The authorization would allow the $350 filing fee to be withdrawn from his account in installments and would require certified account statements for the preceding six months.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 prepayment of fees.

The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Clark a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that, if Clark complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.

Appeal and warning

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 therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which can limit a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees after three strikes. This order itself directed payment or submission of forms; it did not dismiss the action.