Byrd v. Perrigo Manufacturing Co.
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-03542
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Byrd v. Perrigo Manufacturing Co., Judge Swain ordered Thomas Byrd to pay fees or submit authorization to proceed.
Thomas Byrd, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must satisfy the court's fee or prisoner-authorization requirement for the action to proceed.
What happened
In Byrd v. Perrigo Manufacturing Co., Thomas Byrd, who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying the court fees upfront but did not submit the required authorization for prison-account deductions.
The court gave Byrd 30 days to either pay $402 or complete and submit the prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment deductions of the $350 filing fee and provide the court with required account statements.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk to mail Byrd the order and said no summons would issue yet. If Byrd does not comply, the action will be dismissed without prejudice; the court also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees on appeal.
The detailed version
- Byrd v. Perrigo Manufacturing Co. · No. 1:21-cv-03542
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 22, 2021
Background
Thomas Byrd, who was incarcerated at Centralia Correctional Center in Illinois, brought this action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Filing requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and send the court certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court gave Byrd 30 days from the date of the order to pay the $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 21-CV-3542 (LTS). The Clerk was directed to mail Byrd a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Byrd failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed without prejudice.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not address the underlying claims against Perrigo Manufacturing Co.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.