Passaro v. Commissioner of Corrections
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-00698
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Passaro v. Commissioner of Corrections, Chief Judge McMahon ordered payment or fee forms and warned that noncompliance would lead to dismissal.
Matthew Tevis Passaro, who was incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, had to pay the required fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Passaro v. Commissioner of Corrections, Matthew Tevis Passaro filed a civil action while incarcerated and without a lawyer, but did not submit the required fees or completed forms to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court gave Passaro 30 days to either pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installment payments from his prison account. The court also directed the Clerk to mail him the order, and no summons was issued at that time.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered that the case would be processed if Passaro complied and would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees and cautioned about the possible effect of future dismissals under the prisoner “three strikes” rule.
The detailed version
- Passaro v. Commissioner of Corrections · No. 1:21-cv-00698
- Colleen McMahon
- Jan. 29, 2021
Background
Matthew Tevis Passaro filed this civil action while incarcerated in the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island. The opinion states that he was proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Payment and fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner starting a federal civil action must either pay $402—$350 for the filing fee and $52 for the administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If permission to proceed without prepaying fees is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s prison trust-fund account. The authorization also directs the facility to make those deductions and provide certified copies of the account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that status.
Order
Within 30 days after the order, Passaro had to pay the $402 or submit the required application and authorization, labeled with docket number 1:21-CV-0698 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail him a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the action would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Passaro complied, but that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon 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 of a prisoner’s federal civil action as malicious, frivolous, or for failure to state a claim can count as a “strike.” After three strikes, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees unless the prisoner is in imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Classification
This is a procedural order concerning payment of filing fees and an application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court did not decide the merits of Passaro’s claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.