Datta v. DEA Agents

Background

Vikram Datta, who was being held at the Federal Residential Reentry Management Field Office in San Antonio, Texas, filed this civil action without a lawyer. The complaint named DEA agents and others as defendants. Datta did not submit the required filing fees, a completed application to proceed without paying fees upfront, or a prisoner authorization.

Fees and required filings

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 request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, the prisoner must submit a completed and signed application and an authorization allowing the court to withdraw the $350 filing fee from the prison trust account in installments. The court also explained that the $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

The court ordered Datta to act within 30 days of the order's date. He had to either pay the $402 in fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 1:21-CV-2494 (CM). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail him a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.

If Datta complied, the action would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for that appeal. The order cautioned that certain dismissals of a prisoner's federal civil action or appeal can count as strikes under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), and that three strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.