Carter v. Akinyombo
- Nelson Roman
- 7:21-cv-00872
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Carter v. Akinyombo, Judge McMahon ordered an updated prisoner authorization or payment of filing fees within 30 days.
James Anthony Carter, Jr., whose case was required to proceed only after he paid the stated fees or submitted an authorization allowing collection of the full filing fee.
What happened
James Anthony Carter, Jr., who is incarcerated and representing himself, sued A. Akinyombo and others. He submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront and a prisoner authorization.
The authorization allowed the court to collect only $150 from his prison account, but the required filing fee was $350. The court ordered Carter either to pay $402 in fees or submit a corrected authorization allowing collection of the full filing fee in installments.
The order gives Carter 30 days to comply and says the action will be dismissed without prejudice if he does not. The court also said no summons would issue at this time and denied fee-free status for any appeal. Chief Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order.
The detailed version
- Carter v. Akinyombo · No. 7:21-cv-00872
- Nelson Roman
- Feb. 1, 2021
Background
James Anthony Carter, Jr. brought the action while incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility and proceeded without a lawyer. The opinion states that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without paying fees upfront, together with a prisoner authorization.
The fee requirement
The court stated that the total fees were $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. If the court grants permission to proceed without prepayment, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected through installments deducted from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization also directs the correctional facility to send the court certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the preceding six months.
Carter submitted the required application and an authorization, but the authorization permitted collection of only $150 rather than the full $350 filing fee. The opinion's footnote states that the $50 administrative fee does not apply to people granted permission to proceed without prepayment under 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
Order
The court directed Carter, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. The authorization was to identify docket number 21-CV-0872 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Carter a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.
If Carter failed to comply within the permitted time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice. The court also 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 proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. Chief Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order. The court further cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a qualifying strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.