Donohue v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Lewis Liman
- 1:20-cv-08032
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Kathleen A. Donahue v. Commissioner of Social Security, Judge Liman ordered payment or an IFP application before the case could proceed.
Kathleen A. Donahue, who was required to pay the civil-action fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them.
What happened
Kathleen A. Donahue sued the Commissioner of Social Security without a lawyer, but did not pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without paying them.
The court gave Donahue 30 days to pay $400 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court also directed the Clerk to mail the order, and no summons was issued at that time.
Judge Lewis Liman ordered that the case would be processed if Donahue complied, but would be dismissed if she did not. He also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Donohue v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:20-cv-08032
- Lewis Liman
- Nov. 30, 2020
Background
Kathleen A. Donahue brought the action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without the required filing fees and without an application to proceed without prepaying those fees.
Order
The court explained that starting a civil action required either payment of $400—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an IFP application.
The court ordered Donahue, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $400 or submit the attached IFP application, labeled with docket number 20-CV-8032 (LJL). If the court grants the application, Donahue may proceed without prepaying the fees.
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Donahue and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.
Effect and Disposition
The order did not dismiss the action immediately. It stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Donahue complied, and that the action would be dismissed if she failed to comply within the allowed time. Judge Lewis Liman also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.