Vaughn v. Howard
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:21-cv-04537
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Vaughn v. Howard, Judge Swain ordered payment or an application to proceed without fees within thirty days.
Joshua J. Vaughn must either pay the required filing fees or submit the specified application and authorization within thirty days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed. The case had not proceeded to summons or a decision on the underlying claims.
What happened
Joshua J. Vaughn sued Superindendent D. Howard while incarcerated and filed the complaint without paying required fees or submitting the documents needed to request permission to proceed without prepayment. The court ordered Vaughn to address those filing requirements.
Within thirty days, Vaughn must either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment and a prisoner authorization allowing installment payments from his account. The order states that no summons will issue at this time and that the case will be processed if Vaughn complies; if he does not, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order in Vaughn v. Howard. She also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, certifying that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Vaughn v. Howard · No. 7:21-cv-04537
- Vincent Briccetti
- May 21, 2021
Background
Joshua J. Vaughn filed this civil action while incarcerated at Woodbourne Correctional Facility and without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the $402 required for filing—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepayment of fees or a prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court directed Vaughn, within thirty days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $402 in fees, or submit the attached application to proceed without prepayment and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would permit the filing fee to be deducted from his prison account in installments and would require certified copies of his account statements for the prior six months. The documents must identify docket number 21-CV-4537 (LTS).
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Vaughn a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that, if Vaughn complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he fails to comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal and Other Notice
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), subject to the exception stated in the order for imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.