Monroe v. Cambel
- Philip Halpern
- 7:20-cv-10944
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Michael J. Monroe v. Sean Cambel, Judge McMahon ordered Monroe to pay fees or submit forms, warning the case would be dismissed for noncompliance.
Michael J. Monroe was required to pay the fees or submit the required forms within 30 days to keep the action moving; otherwise, the action would be dismissed. The defendants were not required to respond at this stage because no summons issued.
What happened
Michael J. Monroe sued Sean Cambel and others while incarcerated and without a lawyer. He submitted his complaint without paying the required fees or completing the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court gave Monroe 30 days to either pay $400 in fees or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installment deductions from his account. The court also directed the Clerk to mail him the order, and no summons was to issue at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon warned that the action would be dismissed if Monroe did not comply within 30 days. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith; the order did not dismiss the action at that time.
The detailed version
- Monroe v. Cambel · No. 7:20-cv-10944
- Philip Halpern
- Jan. 4, 2021
Background
Michael J. Monroe, who was incarcerated at Rockland County Correctional Center, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He filed the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Fee and filing requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If that application is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court ordered Monroe, within 30 days of January 4, 2021, to either pay the $400 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization. The documents were to identify docket number 20-CV-10944 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Monroe a copy of the order and note service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Monroe complied and would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and warning
The court 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 court also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a statutory “strike,” potentially limiting a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees in future cases after three strikes, subject to the statutory exception for imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Disposition
This was a procedural filing-fee and prisoner-authorization order. The court did not dismiss the action in this order and did not decide the claims’ merits.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.