Moultrie v. New York City Department of Corrections
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-03938
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Moultrie v. New York City Department of Corrections, Chief Judge Swain ordered payment or a corrected fee-waiver application.
Mukadien Moultrie, who must either pay the fees or submit a complete amended application within 30 days for the case to proceed.
What happened
In Moultrie v. New York City Department of Corrections, Mukadien Moultrie filed the case without a lawyer and submitted an application asking to proceed without paying the filing fees upfront. The court said the application left nearly all questions unanswered, so it could not determine whether he could pay.
The court ordered Moultrie, within 30 days, to either pay $402 in fees or submit a corrected application with answers and facts showing that he could not afford the fees. No summons would issue at that time, and the case would be processed if he complied. The order said the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not qualify for payment-free appeal status because it would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims against the New York City Department of Corrections.
The detailed version
- Moultrie v. New York City Department of Corrections · No. 1:21-cv-03938
- Laura Swain
- May 4, 2021
Background
Mukadien Moultrie brought the action without a lawyer. To proceed in the court without paying fees upfront, he submitted an application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an IFP application. The court explained that civil litigants must either pay the filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application showing that they cannot afford them.
Court’s Analysis
Moultrie’s application failed to answer nearly all of the questions. Because it contained almost no information, the court could not determine whether he was able to pay the fees.
Order
The court ordered Moultrie to act within 30 days of the order. He had to either pay $402 in fees or submit an amended IFP application answering the questions and providing facts establishing that he could not pay. If the court granted the amended application, he would be allowed to proceed without paying the fees upfront.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Moultrie and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Moultrie complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied payment-free status for an appeal.
Disposition and Scope
This was a procedural order about fees and the application to proceed without prepayment. It did not decide the merits of Moultrie’s claims against the New York City Department of Corrections.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.