Credle v. The State of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-04216
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Credle v. The State of New York, Judge Swain ordered payment or fee-waiver forms before the case could proceed.
Jamarr Credle, a self-represented prisoner who filed the action without paying the required fees or submitting the required fee-waiver documents.
What happened
In Credle v. The State of New York, Jamarr Credle filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without prepaying them. The opinion says he was being held at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island and represented himself.
The court gave Credle 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment and a prisoner authorization. That authorization allows filing-fee payments to be deducted from his prison trust account. The court directed the clerk to mail him the order, and no summons would be issued at that time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the case would be processed if Credle complied and would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Credle v. The State of New York · No. 1:21-cv-04216
- Laura Swain
- May 12, 2021
Background
Jamarr Credle filed this civil action without a completed application to proceed without prepaying filing fees and without a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Credle was being held at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island and was representing himself.
Payment or application requirement
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prison trust account. The administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment under the cited statute.
Within 30 days of the order, Credle was required to pay the $402 or submit the required application and authorization, labeled with docket number 1:21-CV-4216 (LTS). The clerk was directed to mail him the order and note service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time.
Ruling and effect
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the action would be processed under the clerk’s procedures if Credle complied. The court stated that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time. The court also certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order addressed filing requirements and did not reach the merits of Credle’s claims. The court additionally cautioned that certain future dismissals of prisoner actions could count as strikes under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.