Akinlawon v. Polanco
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:21-cv-02621
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Akinlawon v. Polanco, Judge McMahon ordered payment or a fee-waiver application within 30 days before the case could proceed.
Ayotunji Akinlawon, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the required fee-waiver and prisoner-authorization forms for the action to proceed.
What happened
In Akinlawon v. Polanco, Ayotunji Akinlawon, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting completed fee-waiver paperwork.
The court ordered Akinlawon, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or submit signed forms requesting permission to proceed without paying fees upfront and authorizing installment payments from his prison account. The court also directed the Clerk to mail him the order, and no summons would issue at that time.
Judge McMahon stated that the case would be processed if Akinlawon complied, but would be dismissed if he did not. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from this order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Akinlawon v. Polanco · No. 7:21-cv-02621
- Kenneth Karas
- Mar. 26, 2021
Background
Ayotunji Akinlawon filed a civil action against Nole J. Polanco and other defendants. The complaint states that Akinlawon was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility and was proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Required payment or application
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 the paperwork needed to request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner's trust-fund account. The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide the court with certified account statements for the preceding six months. The court also noted that the $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment under the applicable statute.
Order
Within 30 days of the order, Akinlawon was required to either pay the $402 in fees or complete, sign, and submit the application and prisoner authorization, labeled with the case's docket number. The Clerk was directed to mail him a copy of the order and note service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Akinlawon complied, the action would be processed under the Clerk's procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
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 denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal of a prisoner's federal civil action or appeal as malicious, frivolous, or failing to state a claim could count as a statutory “strike,” and that three such strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.