Thompson v. The State of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-04183
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Thompson v. The State of New York, Judge Swain ordered payment or IFP paperwork within 30 days before processing the pro se prisoner’s case.
Mitchell Thompson, who was detained and representing himself, was required to pay the filing fees or submit the specified application and prisoner-authorization forms within 30 days to keep the action moving.
What happened
In Thompson v. The State of New York, Mitchell Thompson filed a civil case without paying the required fees or submitting the paperwork needed to ask to proceed without paying them upfront. The opinion says he was detained at the Vernon C. Bain Center and was representing himself.
The court gave Thompson 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment deductions from his account. No summons would issue yet, and the case would be processed if he complied; if he did not, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk to mail the order to Thompson and stated that any appeal would not be taken in good faith, so payment-free status was denied for an appeal. The order did not decide the claims in the case.
The detailed version
- Thompson v. The State of New York · No. 1:21-cv-04183
- Laura Swain
- May 13, 2021
Background
Mitchell Thompson filed this civil action while detained at the Vernon C. Bain Center. The opinion states that he filed the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. He was proceeding without a lawyer. The complaint had initially been filed with other detainees, but the court separated the plaintiffs’ claims into separate actions.
Order
The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit the forms required to request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization also directs the detention facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Thompson, within 30 days of the order, to pay the $402 or submit the completed application and prisoner authorization. The forms were to identify docket number 21-CV-4183 (LTS). The Clerk was directed to mail the order to Thompson and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.
Disposition
The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Thompson complied. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The court also certified that an 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 resolve the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.