Sunshine-Longway v. The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.

Background

Christiana Sunshine-Longway and Buenaventura Rivera brought the action without lawyers. They submitted a complaint but did not pay the required fees or provide applications to proceed without prepayment of fees.

Order

The court explained that a plaintiff bringing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—$350 for filing and $52 for administration—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an IFP application. The court ordered each plaintiff, within 30 days of the order, to do one of those two things. Any IFP application had to identify docket number 21-CV-3142 (LTS).

If the court grants the IFP applications, the plaintiffs may proceed without paying the fees upfront. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to the plaintiffs and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If the plaintiffs do not comply within the deadline, the action will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the order does not bar a later filing.

Appeal and disposition

The order did not decide the underlying claims against The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. It directed the plaintiffs to pay the fees or submit IFP applications and stated that noncompliance would result in dismissal without prejudice. Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepayment of fees.