Fashaw v. The State of New York
- John Koeltl
- 1:21-cv-02336
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fashaw v. State of New York, Judge McMahon ordered payment or a complete fee-waiver application within 30 days, warning the case would otherwise be dismissed.
KASHAWN A. FASHAW, whose case could be dismissed if he did not pay the required fees or submit the required forms within 30 days.
What happened
In Fashaw v. The State of New York, KASHAWN A. FASHAW, who was incarcerated and representing himself, filed the action without paying the required fees or submitting a complete authorization for payments from his prison account. The court found that his handwritten application to proceed without paying fees upfront did not clearly show that he could not pay.
The court ordered Fashaw, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization forms. The order stated that no summons would issue yet and that the case would be processed if he complied; if he did not, the action would be dismissed.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon issued the order on March 18, 2021. She also ruled that an appeal from the order would not qualify for fee-free status because it would not be taken in good faith, and cautioned about possible filing penalties for later cases dismissed as frivolous or for failing to state a claim.
The detailed version
- Fashaw v. The State of New York · No. 1:21-cv-02336
- John Koeltl
- Mar. 18, 2021
Background
KASHAWN A. FASHAW filed this civil action while incarcerated in the Otis B. Bantam Center on Rikers Island and represented himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without a completed prisoner authorization. His handwritten application to proceed without prepaying fees did not clearly establish that he was unable to pay.
Fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees. If the court grants that application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this fee-waiver status.
Order
The court ordered Fashaw to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay the $402 in fees, or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization forms. The forms were to identify docket number 21-CV-02336 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Fashaw and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Fashaw complied and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal. The order further cautioned that a prisoner's later action dismissed as frivolous or for failing to state a claim can count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g); after three strikes, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.