Jordan v. United States
- Denise Cote
- 1:20-cv-10812
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 7
In Jordan v. United States, Judge Cote ordered Joseph Jordan to pay filing fees or submit completed prisoner forms within 45 days.
Joseph Jordan and the initial processing of his civil action against the United States of America; the order required him to pay the fees or submit the required forms before the case could proceed.
What happened
Jordan v. United States concerns Joseph Jordan’s attempt to bring a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the required forms. The order states that Jordan is incarcerated and representing himself without a lawyer.
The court gave Jordan 45 days to pay $402 in fees or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments from his prison account and provide certified account statements.
Judge Cote ordered the Clerk to mail the order to Jordan and stated that no summons would issue yet. The court said it would dismiss the action if Jordan did not comply, and denied payment-free status for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Jordan v. United States · No. 1:20-cv-10812
- Denise Cote
- Jan. 20, 2021
Background
Joseph Jordan, who was incarcerated at the time of the order, filed this civil action without a lawyer against the United States of America. He submitted his pleading without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Filing-fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. That request requires a signed application and a prisoner authorization.
The authorization directs the correctional facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner’s account in installments and to send the court certified copies of the prisoner’s account statements for the preceding six months. The court also explained that a prisoner granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees must still pay the full filing fee through installments.
Order
The court ordered Jordan, within 45 days of January 20, 2021, to either pay the $402 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization. The filings were to identify docket number 20-CV-10812 (DLC).
The Clerk was directed to mail Jordan a copy of the order and note service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order stated that, if Jordan complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he did not comply within the allowed time, the court would dismiss the action.
The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.