Queiroz v. The State of New York

Background

Christopher Queiroz filed this civil action against the State of New York and the Department of Correction while detained at the Vernon C. Bain Center. He filed the complaint without a lawyer. The opinion states that he originally filed the complaint with other detainees, but the court separated the plaintiffs’ claims and opened them as separate actions.

Fees and required paperwork

The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or ask to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application 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 prisoner authorization permits those deductions and requires certified account statements for the prior six months.

Queiroz submitted neither the fees nor a completed application and prisoner authorization. The court ordered him, within 30 days of the order, to either pay $402 or submit the required application and authorization labeled with docket number 21-CV-4173 (LTS).

Order

Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to mail Queiroz a copy of the order and note service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Queiroz complied; if he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal. The opinion does not address the underlying claims against the defendants.