Miata v. Department of Corrections
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:20-cv-09486
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Miata v. Brann, Judge McMahon ordered payment or fee-waiver paperwork within 30 days, or the case would be dismissed.
Michael Miata, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, was required to pay the filing fees or submit the required fee-waiver and prisoner-authorization forms.
What happened
In Miata v. Brann, Michael Miata, who was incarcerated and represented himself, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the paperwork needed to request a fee waiver.
The court ordered Miata, within 30 days, either to pay $400 or submit a completed application to proceed without paying fees upfront and a form authorizing installment deductions from his account. The court also said no summons would issue yet and that the case would be processed if he complied.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon issued the order. She stated that failing to comply would result in dismissal and denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Miata v. Department of Corrections · No. 1:20-cv-09486
- Paul Gardephe
- Nov. 16, 2020
Background
Michael Miata filed this civil action while incarcerated in the Vernon C. Bain Center and proceeding without a lawyer. The opinion states that he originally filed the complaint with 49 other detainees. A magistrate judge severed the claims and directed the Clerk of Court to open separate cases for each plaintiff.
Miata 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 court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees or request authorization to proceed without prepayment. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account; the $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that status.
Order
The court ordered Miata, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $400 in fees or submit the attached fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization. The forms were to identify docket number 20-CV-9486 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Miata a copy of the order and note service on the docket.
The court directed that no summons issue at that time. It stated that, if Miata complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and prisoner-filing warning
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order also warned that a later dismissal for being frivolous or for failing to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner-filing statute, and that three strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.