Azor El v. Salov
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-10857
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Azor El v. Salov, Judge McMahon ordered a prisoner authorization or $402 payment within 30 days before the case could proceed.
Jean Azor El, a prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, was required to pay the fees or submit a prisoner authorization before the action could proceed. The order also affected any appeal from this order by denying permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
What happened
In Jean Azor El v. Salov, the plaintiff filed a civil case while held at the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island and asked to proceed without paying court fees upfront. He submitted the required fee-waiver application but not the separate authorization needed for deductions from his prison trust account.
The court ordered him, within 30 days, either to pay $402 or submit the prisoner authorization. If he submits the authorization, the $350 filing fee will be collected in installments; the $52 administrative fee does not apply to people approved to proceed without prepayment. No summons would issue yet, and the case would be processed if he complied. The court said the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Azor El v. Salov · No. 1:20-cv-10857
- Colleen McMahon
- Dec. 23, 2020
Background
Jean Azor El filed this civil action without a lawyer while held in the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Fee and authorization requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants permission to proceed without prepayment, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires collection of the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner's trust-fund account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment under 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
Order
The court directed Jean Azor El, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 1:20-CV-10857 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail him a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If he complied, the action would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Colleen McMahon 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 did not address the merits of the claims against the defendants. It also cautioned that certain dismissals of prisoner cases can count as strikes under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), limiting future fee-free prisoner filings after three strikes unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.