Graham v. Moran

Background

Roland Graham, who is incarcerated at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center and is proceeding without a lawyer, filed this civil action against Alina Moran and other defendants. He did not submit a prisoner authorization with his complaint.

Court’s Order

The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay the required filing fees or ask to proceed without prepaying them. A prisoner who seeks that fee waiver must submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits the court to collect the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner’s account and requires certified account statements for the preceding six months.

Within 30 days, Graham was ordered to either pay $400 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 21-CV-3973 (LTS). The opinion’s explanation states that the ordinary total is $402, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee, but also explains that the administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment of fees.

Disposition

Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk to mail the order to Graham and note service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures if Graham complied, but the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed period. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal as frivolous or for failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the federal prisoner-litigation statute.