Macedon v. Department of Corrections
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-10123
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Macedon v. Department of Corrections, Judge McMahon ordered George Macedon to pay filing fees or submit forms to proceed without prepayment.
George Macedon, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the documents needed to request permission to proceed without prepaying them.
What happened
Macedon v. Department of Corrections concerns George Macedon’s newly assigned case after claims by 13 detainees were separated into individual cases. He is incarcerated and represents himself.
The court ordered Macedon, within 30 days, either to pay $400 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and authorization for prison-account deductions. No summons would issue yet.
Judge McMahon said the case would proceed if Macedon complied and would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied fee-free status for any appeal from the order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Macedon v. Department of Corrections · No. 1:20-cv-10123
- Colleen McMahon
- Dec. 3, 2020
Background
George Macedon, who was incarcerated at the Vernon C. Bain Center, brought this civil action without a lawyer. His claims were separated into this docket after a magistrate judge divided the claims of 13 detainees who had signed an amended complaint in a prior related proceeding. Macedon had not paid the filing fees or submitted the required application and authorization to proceed without prepaying fees.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $400—the $350 filing fee and $50 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner must authorize those deductions and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months.
The court gave Macedon 30 days from the date of the order to pay the $400 or submit the application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-10123 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time.
Disposition and Effect
Judge McMahon ordered that the case be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Macedon complied. The order stated that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time. The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Macedon’s claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.