Martinez-Amezaga v. North Rockland Central School District
- Philip Halpern
- 7:21-cv-00521
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Martinez-Amezaga v. North Rockland, Judge McMahon ordered payment of fees or an application to proceed without prepayment.
Gabriela Martinez-Amezaga and the progress of her civil action; the court required her to pay the filing fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
What happened
In Martinez-Amezaga v. North Rockland Central District, et al., Gabriela Martinez-Amezaga filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without paying them in advance.
The court gave her 30 days to pay $402 or submit a signed application. No summons would issue yet. If she did not comply, the action would be dismissed without prejudice, meaning she could file it again.
Judge McMahon also ruled that any appeal from this order would not qualify for appeal without prepayment of fees because it would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Martinez-Amezaga v. North Rockland Central School District · No. 7:21-cv-00521
- Philip Halpern
- Jan. 21, 2021
Background
Gabriela Martinez-Amezaga brought the action without a lawyer. The opinion states that she submitted her complaint without paying the required fees and without an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Fee or application requirement
The court explained that starting a civil action required either payment of $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees. This type of application is commonly called an IFP application.
The court ordered Martinez-Amezaga, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the attached IFP application labeled with docket number 21-CV-0521 (CM). If the court granted the application, she would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail her the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.
Disposition
The court did not decide the underlying claims. It directed Martinez-Amezaga to pay the fees or submit the IFP application. If she failed to comply within the permitted time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling.
Judge Colleen McMahon certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepayment of fees.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.