Woody v. New York State
- Andrew Carter
- 1:20-cv-09504
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Woody v. New York State D.O.C.S., Judge McMahon ordered Woody to pay $5 or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
John Woody, who was required to pay the filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment; the petition’s respondent, New York State D.O.C.S., was not required to answer at that time.
What happened
Woody v. New York State D.O.C.S. concerns John Woody’s petition for a court writ. He submitted the petition without paying the required $5 filing fee and without an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court gave Woody 30 days to pay the fee or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepayment. The court said no response from the respondent was required at that time and warned that the case would be dismissed if Woody did not comply.
Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the petition’s underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Woody v. New York State · No. 1:20-cv-09504
- Andrew Carter
- Nov. 17, 2020
Background
John Woody, representing himself, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a court proceeding seeking relief through that type of writ. The opinion does not describe the petition’s underlying claims. Woody submitted the petition without the required $5 filing fee and without an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying court fees.
Order
The court ordered Woody, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit a signed IFP application. If the court grants the application, Woody may proceed without prepaying fees. The application must include docket number 20-CV-9504 (CM).
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Woody and record service on the docket. The court stated that no answer was required at that time and that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Woody complied. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and disposition
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. This was a procedural order about the filing fee or fee-waiver application; it did not decide the merits of Woody’s petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.