Lewis v. The People of the State of New York
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:20-cv-09777
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Lewis v. People, Judge Briccetti ordered Robert Lewis to pay the $5 fee or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Robert Lewis, who must pay the $5 filing fee or submit the required financial application by December 15, 2020, or the action will be dismissed.
What happened
Lewis v. The People of the State of New York concerns Robert Lewis’s petition for federal relief, filed without a lawyer. He did not submit the required $5 filing fee or an application to proceed without paying the fee upfront.
The court ordered Lewis to do one of two things by December 15, 2020: pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit the provided financial application. If he failed to comply by that deadline, the action would be dismissed. The order did not decide the substance of his petition.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti also directed the Clerk’s Office to mail the order to Lewis and record service on the docket. The court said any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Lewis v. The People of the State of New York · No. 7:20-cv-09777
- Vincent Briccetti
- Nov. 24, 2020
Background
Robert Lewis, representing himself, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. To begin that type of federal proceeding, a petitioner must either pay the $5 filing fee or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed financial application.
Lewis submitted the petition without either the filing fee or an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court gave Lewis until December 15, 2020, to pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit the attached application. If the court granted the application, Lewis would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the filing fee. The application required information about matters including incarceration, employment, income, assets, expenses, dependents, and debts.
The court ordered the Clerk of Court to mail Lewis a copy of the order and note service on the docket. The case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Lewis complied. If he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and effect
The court 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 proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order addressed filing requirements and did not resolve whether Lewis was entitled to the relief requested in his petition.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti entered the order on November 24, 2020.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.