Patel v. Rockwood
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-01501
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Patel v. Rockwood, Chief Judge McMahon ordered Amit Patel to pay a $5 filing fee or submit a fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Amit Patel must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed fee-waiver application within 30 days. Mark Rockwood was not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
In Patel v. Rockwood, Amit Patel, representing himself, filed a petition asking the court to review his detention. He did not submit the required $5 filing fee or an application to proceed without paying the fee in advance.
The court ordered Patel, within 30 days, to either pay the fee or submit a signed fee-waiver application. If the court approves that application, he may proceed without paying the fee in advance. No response from Mark Rockwood was required at this stage.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk to mail Patel the order and record service. The court said the petition would be denied if Patel did not comply on time, and denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Patel v. Rockwood · No. 1:21-cv-01501
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 22, 2021
Background
Amit Patel, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against Mark Rockwood. The opinion does not explain the underlying basis of the petition. Patel submitted neither the $5 filing fee nor an application to proceed without paying court fees in advance.
Order
The court explained that a petitioner must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees. It gave Patel 30 days from the date of the order to do one of those things. If he submits the application, it must identify docket number 1:21-CV-1501 (CM). If the court grants the application, Patel may proceed without prepaying the fee.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail Patel a copy of the order and note service on the docket. It stated that Mark Rockwood did not need to file an answer at that time. If Patel complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed period, the petition will be denied.
Appeal Certification
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Patel’s petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.