Velasquez Saavedra v. Department of Corrections
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-09484
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Velasquez Saavedra v. Department of Corrections, Judge McMahon ordered payment or fee-waiver forms before the case could proceed.
Manuel Velasquez Saavedra, who was incarcerated and represented himself, had to pay the filing fees or submit the required fee-waiver and prisoner-authorization forms for the case to proceed.
What happened
Velasquez Saavedra v. Department of Corrections was filed by a person held at the Vernon C. Bain Center without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court gave the plaintiff 30 days to pay $400 or submit a completed fee-waiver application and authorization allowing installment payments from his account. No summons would issue yet, and the case would be processed if he complied; the court said the action would be dismissed if he did not.
Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Velasquez Saavedra v. Department of Corrections · No. 1:20-cv-09484
- Colleen McMahon
- Nov. 30, 2020
Background
Manuel Velasquez Saavedra filed this civil action while incarcerated in the Vernon C. Bain Center and represented himself. The opinion says he originally filed the complaint with 49 other detainees. Those claims were later separated, and the Clerk of Court opened separate cases for each plaintiff.
Payment or fee-waiver requirements
A prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront. To make that request, the prisoner must submit a signed application and an authorization allowing the court to withdraw the $350 filing fee from the prison account in installments. The authorization also directs the facility to provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a prisoner who is granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Saavedra submitted the complaint without paying the fees and without submitting a completed application or prisoner authorization. The order required him, within 30 days, either to pay $400 or submit the required forms. The order instructed him to label those forms with docket number 20-CV-9490 (CM), although the case caption identifies this action as No. 20-CV-9484 (CM).
Ruling and effect
The court ordered the Clerk to mail the order to Saavedra and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Saavedra complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Colleen McMahon certified under federal law that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a qualifying dismissal, or “strike,” under the prisoner litigation law. The court did not address the merits of Saavedra’s underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.