Hines v. Young

Background

Rory Hines, who was incarcerated and represented himself, filed this civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or the required prisoner authorization.

Fees and required forms

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s prison trust-fund account. The prisoner authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the prior six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment.

Order

The court ordered Hines, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 or submit the completed application and prisoner authorization, labeled with the case docket number. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Hines a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The order states that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Hines complied, but would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time.

Appeal and warning

Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also cautioned that certain dismissals of a prisoner’s federal civil actions or appeals count as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), and that three strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees in later federal civil actions unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.