Johnson v. Ramos
- Louis Stanton
- 1:20-cv-10361
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Johnson v. Ramos, Judge McMahon ordered Jinja J.J. Johnson to pay fees or submit prison forms within 30 days.
Jinja J.J. Johnson, who must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Johnson v. Ramos, Jinja J.J. Johnson filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to ask to proceed without prepaying them. The opinion says Johnson was incarcerated and represented himself.
The court gave Johnson 30 days to pay the fees or submit a completed application and authorization allowing installment deductions from his prison account. No summons would issue at that time, and the case would be processed if Johnson complied.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk to mail the order to Johnson and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees because any appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order warns that failure to comply would result in dismissal.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. Ramos · No. 1:20-cv-10361
- Louis Stanton
- Dec. 16, 2020
Background
Jinja J.J. Johnson filed a civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Johnson was incarcerated on Rikers Island and proceeded without a lawyer.
Fee and application requirements
The order explains that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment of fees. If that application is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires collection of the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and requires submission of certified account statements for the previous six months.
The order gives Johnson 30 days from the date of the order to pay the fees or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 20-CV-10361 (CM). The opinion initially describes the total fees as $402, but the order later directs Johnson to pay $400. The court does not explain this difference.
Ruling
Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to mail Johnson a copy of the order and note service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The order states that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Johnson complied and would be dismissed if Johnson failed to comply within the allowed time.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order further cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.