Alava v. Lamanna

Background

Princess Debbie Alava, who was incarcerated at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, brought this civil action without a lawyer. She submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis, but she did not submit the required prisoner authorization.

Required filing or payment

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit the required documents to request permission to proceed without prepayment. If the court grants the request to proceed without prepayment, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires collection of the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner's trust account. The authorization also directs the facility to send the court certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months.

The court ordered Alava to do one of two things within 30 days of the order's date: pay the $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 1:20-CV-10276 (CM).

Order

Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to mail Alava a copy of the order and note service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the action would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Alava complied, but that the action would be dismissed if she failed to comply within the allowed time.

The court also 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 further cautioned that certain dismissals of prisoner actions or appeals count as strikes under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which can limit a prisoner's ability to proceed without prepaying fees after three strikes, subject to the statutory exception for imminent danger of serious physical injury.