Branch v. Department of Corrections

Background

Edward Branch, who was incarcerated in the Vernon C. Bain Center, brought this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that Branch filed the complaint with 49 other detainees and that a magistrate judge had separated the claims into individual cases.

Branch filed his complaint without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepayment of fees or a prisoner authorization. The prisoner authorization would allow installment deductions from his account for the filing fee and require certified copies of his account statements for the previous six months.

Order

The court ordered Branch, within 30 days of the order, either to pay $400 in fees or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-9411 (CM). The order explains that the $400 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee, while a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment does not pay the $50 administrative fee.

The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Branch complied. If he did not comply within the permitted time, the action would be dismissed. No summons would issue at that time.

Additional Ruling

Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk to mail Branch a copy of the order and record service on the docket. The court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. The opinion did not address the underlying claims in Branch’s complaint. It also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner-litigation statute.