Jones v. Henderson
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-10009
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Jones v. Henderson, Judge McMahon ordered pro se plaintiff Denise Jones to pay $400 or submit an amended fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Denise Jones, whose request to proceed without paying filing fees upfront was found insufficient and who was ordered to pay the fees or submit an amended application; the case would be dismissed if she failed to comply.
What happened
In Jones v. Henderson, Denise Jones filed the case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying filing fees upfront. The court found that her application did not show that she was unable to pay.
The court gave Jones 30 days to either pay the $400 filing and administrative fees or submit a corrected application with facts showing that she cannot pay. The court said no summons would issue yet and that the case would be dismissed if she did not comply.
Judge Colleen McMahon also denied fee-free status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Jones v. Henderson · No. 1:20-cv-10009
- Colleen McMahon
- Dec. 7, 2020
Background
Denise Jones brought the action without a lawyer. To proceed in a civil case without paying court fees in advance, a plaintiff must either pay the required fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees. Jones submitted such an application.
Court's analysis
The court concluded that Jones's responses did not establish that she was unable to pay the fees. She reported gross yearly wages of $69,000, along with payments from a pension, annuity, or life insurance. She also reported having no money in the bank and no property, one dependent, no housing, transportation, or utility expenses, and about $14,000 in student-loan debt. The court stated that these responses suggested that she might have enough funds to pay the filing fees.
Order
The court ordered Jones, within 30 days of December 7, 2020, to either pay $400 in fees or submit an amended application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The amended application had to use docket number 20-CV-10009 (CM) and address the deficiencies by providing facts showing that she could not pay. If the court granted the amended application, Jones would be allowed to proceed without paying the fees upfront.
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Jones and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Jones complied and would be dismissed if she failed to comply within the allowed time. Judge Colleen McMahon certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.