Barber v. New York City

Background

Leonard Barber filed this civil action against New York City and the Department of Corrections. The opinion states that Barber was detained at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island and was proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without completing an application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Payment and application requirements

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 in forma pauperis (without prepaying fees) and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee must be collected through installment deductions from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the detention facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

The court ordered Barber, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the completed application and prisoner authorization, labeled with the case number. The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk's procedures if Barber complied and that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed 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 cautioned that certain later dismissals could count as strikes under the prisoner-filing statute, potentially affecting a prisoner's ability to proceed without prepaying fees in future federal civil actions. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.