Cameron v. Clark

Background

Gilbert Cameron filed a civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepayment of fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Cameron was detained at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island and was representing himself.

Payment or fee-waiver requirements

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months.

Order and disposition

Within 30 days of the order, Cameron was required to pay the $402 or submit the application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 21-CV-2383 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Cameron complied and would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time. Chief Judge Colleen McMahon also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion separately cautioned that certain dismissals of prisoner civil actions can count as “strikes” under federal law.