Devane v. Doe
- Nelson Roman
- 7:20-cv-09649
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Devane v. Doe, Judge McMahon ordered Donnie Devane to pay $400 or submit required forms within 30 days before the case could proceed.
Donnie Devane, the incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the required IFP and prisoner-authorization documents for the case to proceed. The defendants are not required to respond at this stage.
What happened
Devane v. Doe concerns a case filed by Donnie Devane, who is incarcerated and representing himself. He submitted his complaint without paying the required fees or completing the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court gave Devane 30 days to either pay $400 or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installment payments from his prison account. The court also directed the Clerk to mail him the order, and no summons would issue at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered that the case would be processed if Devane complied and would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Devane v. Doe · No. 7:20-cv-09649
- Nelson Roman
- Nov. 19, 2020
Background
Donnie Devane filed this action while incarcerated at Bare Hill Correctional Facility and represented himself. The opinion does not address the underlying claims. Devane submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Payment and application requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees. If IFP status is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and directs the facility to provide certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months.
Order
The court ordered Devane, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 or submit the attached IFP application and prisoner authorization. The documents had to identify docket number 20-CV-9649 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Devane a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Devane complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Colleen McMahon 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 also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a “strike” under the prisoner litigation statute, and that three strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding IFP unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.