Schulte v. United States of America

Background

Joshua Adam Schultz, who was incarcerated at Metropolitan Correctional Center, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without completing an application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Fees and required forms

The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $402—$350 for the filing fee and $52 for the administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the facility to send the court certified account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this status.

Ruling

The court ordered Schultz, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 in fees or submit the application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 21-CV-4042. The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Schultz complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner-litigation statute.