Watkins v. USA Dept of the Treasury
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-04532
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Watkins v. USA Dept of He Treasury, Judge Swain ordered the pro se plaintiff to pay fees or submit an application to proceed without paying.
Clover Janice Watkins, also known as Clover Janice Robinson, must either pay the required fees or submit a completed application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Watkins v. USA Dept of He Treasury, Clover Janice Watkins, also known as Clover Janice Robinson, brought the action without a lawyer but did not submit the required fees or an application to proceed without paying them.
The court gave Watkins 30 days to pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or complete, sign, and submit the attached application. The case will be processed if she complies, but the action will be dismissed if she does not comply within the allowed time. No summons will issue yet.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Watkins v. USA Dept of the Treasury · No. 1:21-cv-04532
- Laura Swain
- June 3, 2021
Background
Clover Janice Watkins, also known as Clover Janice Robinson, filed this action without a lawyer. The opinion states that she submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without an application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Order
The court directed Watkins, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $402 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee, or complete, sign, and submit the attached IFP application. The application was to identify docket number 1:21-CV-4532 (LTS). If the court grants the application, Watkins may proceed without paying the fees in advance.
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Watkins and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Watkins complies, the action will be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures. If she does not comply within the permitted time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal and disposition
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an 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 decide the merits of the claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.