Pringle v. Department of Corrections

Background

Josiah Pringle filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The order states that Pringle was detained at the Vernon C. Bain Center on Rikers Island and was proceeding without a lawyer. The complaint had originally been filed with 49 other detainees, but their claims were separated into individual cases.

Filing-fee requirements

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application, together with a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits installment deductions from the prisoner’s account toward the $350 filing fee and requires certified account statements for the prior six months.

Order

The court ordered Pringle, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 in fees or submit the required IFP application and prisoner authorization labeled with this case’s docket number. The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and note service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed if Pringle complied and that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time.

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the underlying claims.