Watkins v. AHRC
- Laura Swain
- 1:20-cv-10878
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Watkins v. AHRC, Judge McMahon ordered Shawnneka Watkins to pay fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
Shawnneka Watkins, who must either pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Watkins v. AHRC, Shawnneka Watkins filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepayment. She was representing herself.
The court ordered Watkins, within 30 days, to either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action would be dismissed if she did not comply.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon issued the order on January 22, 2021. The court also denied permission to proceed without prepayment for any appeal from the order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Watkins v. AHRC · No. 1:20-cv-10878
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 22, 2021
Background
Shawnneka Watkins brought the action without a lawyer. She submitted her complaint without paying the required filing and administrative fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepayment of fees.
Order
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepayment. The court gave Watkins 30 days from the date of the order to do one of those two things. If the court grants the application, Watkins may proceed without paying the fees in advance.
The clerk was directed to mail the order to Watkins and record 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 Watkins complied, but that the action would be dismissed if she failed to comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and disposition
The court certified under federal law that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepayment of fees for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.