Randolph v. Wilson

Background

Ryan Randolph, who was incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

What the order required

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 copies of the prisoner's account statements for the preceding six months.

The order gave Randolph 30 days from January 5, 2021, to pay the fees or submit the required forms. The forms were to identify docket number 20-CV-9678 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Randolph a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that, if Randolph complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures, and that, if he did not comply within the allotted time, the action would be dismissed.

Other rulings and effect

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 as frivolous or for failure to state a claim could count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Judge Colleen McMahon did not decide the merits of Randolph's claims against Officer Wilson in this order.