Hurdle v. The State of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-04256
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Hurdle v. The State of New York, Judge Swain ordered Daniel Hurdle to pay fees or submit forms to proceed without prepayment.
Daniel Hurdle, whose case could be processed only if he paid the required fees or submitted the required application and authorization within 30 days; otherwise, the action would be dismissed.
What happened
In Hurdle v. The State of New York, Daniel Hurdle filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to ask to proceed without paying upfront. The opinion says he was detained and represented himself.
Judge Swain ordered Hurdle, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application and authorization allowing filing-fee payments to be deducted from his account in installments. The order stated that no summons would issue at that time.
Judge Swain directed the Clerk to mail Hurdle the order and stated that the case would be processed if he complied, but would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Hurdle v. The State of New York · No. 1:21-cv-04256
- Laura Swain
- May 13, 2021
Background
Daniel Hurdle filed this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he was detained at the Vernon C. Bain Center and that he had filed the complaint with other detainees. The court had separated the plaintiffs’ claims and opened them as separate actions.
Fees and required forms
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 request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Hurdle had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow the $350 filing fee to be collected from his account in installments and would require certified copies of his account statements for the preceding six months.
Hurdle submitted the complaint without the fees, a completed application, or a prisoner authorization. The court ordered him to complete one of two options within 30 days of the order: pay the $402 or submit the required application and authorization labeled with docket number 21-CV-4256 (LTS).
Order
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to mail Hurdle a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Hurdle complied, and that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the permitted time.
The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion did not decide the merits of Hurdle’s underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.