Frederick v. Schiff

Background

Kristopher Frederick, who was incarcerated in the Sullivan County Jail and proceeded without a lawyer, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization.

Order

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit the required application and authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.

The court ordered Frederick, within 30 days, to either pay the $402 or submit the application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 21-CV-1060 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Frederick complied and would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time.

Appeal and prisoner-strike warning

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal of a prisoner’s federal civil action as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim can count as a “strike,” and that three strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.

Ruling

Judge Colleen McMahon issued an administrative and filing-fee order; the court did not decide whether Frederick’s underlying claims were legally valid.