Davidson v. Department of Corrections
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:20-cv-09500
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Davidson v. Department of Corrections, Judge McMahon ordered a prisoner to pay fees or submit forms within 30 days, or the case would be dismissed.
Willet Davidson, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, was required to pay the fees or submit the required forms within 30 days to continue the case.
What happened
In Davidson v. Department of Corrections, Willet Davidson, who was incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil case without paying the required fees or submitting forms to request permission to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court ordered Davidson, within 30 days, either to pay $400 or submit a completed application and authorization allowing filing-fee payments to be deducted from his account. No summons would issue yet, and the court said the case would be processed if he complied but dismissed if he did not.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to proceed without fees for any appeal, finding that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Davidson v. Department of Corrections · No. 1:20-cv-09500
- Lorna Schofield
- Nov. 16, 2020
Background
Willet Davidson filed this civil action while incarcerated at the Vernon C. Bain Center and proceeded without a lawyer. The complaint was filed with those of 49 other detainees; a magistrate judge severed the claims and directed the Clerk of Court to open separate cases.
Davidson submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The order explains that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees or submit both forms. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization also directs the facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
Order
The court ordered Davidson to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay $400 in fees, or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-9500 (CM). The $400 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee; the order notes that the administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Davidson a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that, if Davidson 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 Other Warnings
Chief 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 proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order also warned that a later dismissal for being frivolous or failing to state a claim could count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), and that a prisoner with three strikes generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees unless facing imminent danger of serious physical injury.
This order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.