Evans v. Department of Corrections
- George Daniels
- 1:20-cv-10124
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Evans v. Department of Corrections, Judge McMahon ordered James Evans to pay fees or submit forms seeking permission to proceed without prepayment.
James Evans, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, had to pay the required fees or submit an application and authorization to proceed without prepayment within 30 days. The case could be dismissed if he did not comply.
What happened
In Evans v. Department of Corrections, James Evans, who is incarcerated and representing himself, brought a civil action but did not pay the required fees or submit the forms needed to request permission to proceed without prepayment.
The court gave Evans 30 days to pay $400 or submit a signed application and authorization allowing filing-fee payments to be deducted from his account. The court also directed the Clerk to mail him the order, and no summons would issue at that time. If Evans did not comply, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Colleen McMahon directed these filing steps, denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, and certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the claims’ merits.
The detailed version
- Evans v. Department of Corrections · No. 1:20-cv-10124
- George Daniels
- Dec. 4, 2020
Background
James Evans, who was incarcerated at the Vernon C. Bain Center and was proceeding without a lawyer, brought this civil action. The opinion states that Evans had signed an amended complaint in a prior related proceeding. A magistrate judge later separated the claims of 13 detainees into individual cases, and Evans’s claims were placed under this docket number.
Filing-fee requirement
A prisoner starting a federal civil action must either pay the required fees or request permission to proceed without prepaying them. The order states that the total fees were $400: a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee. A prisoner granted permission to proceed without prepayment still must pay the $350 filing fee in installments under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The prisoner must therefore submit both a completed application and an authorization allowing deductions from the prisoner’s account and requiring certified account statements for the previous six months.
Court’s order
The court ordered Evans, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $400 in fees or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 20-CV-10124 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Evans a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Evans failed to comply within the permitted period, the action would be dismissed. If he complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures.
Appeal certification
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a statutory “strike” affecting a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees in future cases.
What the order did not decide
This order addressed filing fees and the required application materials. It did not decide whether Evans’s underlying claims were legally valid.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.