Ezekwo v. OPMC
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-01274
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ezekwo v. OPMC, Judge McMahon ordered Dr. Ezekwo to pay filing fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
Dr. Ifeoma Ezekwo, whose case must either be accompanied by the required payment or an application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Ezekwo v. OPMC, Dr. Ifeoma Ezekwo filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepayment because of inability to pay.
The court gave Dr. Ezekwo 30 days to pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. The court also directed the Clerk to mail her the order and stated that no summons would issue at that time.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered that the case would be processed if Dr. Ezekwo complied and would be dismissed if she did not. Judge McMahon also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Ezekwo v. OPMC · No. 1:21-cv-01274
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 1, 2021
Background
Dr. Ifeoma Ezekwo filed this civil action without a lawyer. She did not pay the required filing fees and did not submit an application to proceed without prepayment of fees.
Order
The court explained that a civil plaintiff must either pay $402 in fees—$350 for filing and $52 for administration—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court ordered Dr. Ezekwo, within 30 days of the order, to do one of those two things. If the court grants her application, she may proceed without prepaying the fees.
The Clerk was directed to mail Dr. Ezekwo a copy of the order 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 Office procedures if she complied, but that the action would be dismissed if she failed to comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and disposition
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. 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.