Stevens v. Department of Corrections
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-09423
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Stevens v. Brann, Judge McMahon ordered Stevens to pay the filing fees or submit forms to proceed without prepayment.
Jonathan Stevens, who must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms for the action to proceed; the case had not yet advanced to summons issuance or a ruling on the claims.
What happened
In Stevens v. Brann, Jonathan Stevens, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without prepayment.
The court ordered Stevens, within 30 days, either to pay $400 or submit a completed application and authorization allowing installment payments from his account. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal of the action.
Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Stevens v. Department of Corrections · No. 1:20-cv-09423
- Colleen McMahon
- Nov. 17, 2020
Background
Jonathan Stevens filed this civil action while incarcerated in the Vernon C. Bain Center and without a lawyer. The opinion states that Stevens originally filed the complaint with 49 other detainees, but a magistrate judge severed the claims and directed the Clerk of Court to open separate cases.
A prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees or ask to proceed without prepaying the fees. That request requires a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits installment deductions from the prisoner’s account for the $350 filing fee and requires certified account statements for the preceding six months. The separate $50 administrative fee does not apply to a prisoner granted permission to proceed without prepayment.
Court’s order
Because Stevens submitted neither the fees nor the required forms, the court ordered him to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay $400, or submit the application and prisoner authorization. The order instructed that the forms be labeled with docket number 20-CV-9501 (CM), although the caption identifies the case as 20-CV-9423 (CM).
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Stevens a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that, if Stevens 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
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also warned that a dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim can 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 unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order as Chief United States District Judge.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.