Epperson v. United States
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-02176
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Epperson v. United States, Chief Judge McMahon ordered a pro se plaintiff to pay fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
Chris Jonathon Epperson, who must either pay the required fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days.
What happened
In Epperson v. United States, Chris Jonathon Epperson filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepayment.
The court gave Epperson 30 days to pay $402 or submit a signed application. No summons would issue at that time, and the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the claims in the case.
The detailed version
- Epperson v. United States · No. 1:21-cv-02176
- Colleen McMahon
- Mar. 15, 2021
Background
Chris Jonathon Epperson brought the action without a lawyer. He submitted his complaint without paying the required filing fees and administrative fee and without submitting an application to proceed without prepayment of fees.
Fees or application required
The court stated that a civil action requires payment of $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. Instead of paying those fees, Epperson could request authorization to proceed without prepayment by submitting a signed application. The court ordered him to do one of those two things within 30 days of the order. If he submitted the application and the court granted it, he could proceed without prepaying the fees.
Other directions and ruling
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Epperson and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the action would be dismissed if Epperson failed to comply within the allowed time. Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not reach the merits of Epperson's claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.