Schulte v. United States of America
- Jesse Furman
- 1:21-cv-05554
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Schulte v. United States of America, Judge Swain ordered payment or an IFP application within 30 days and denied appellate IFP status.
Joshua Adam Schulte, who was required to pay the filing fees or submit an application and prisoner authorization within 30 days to continue the action; the case could be dismissed if he failed to comply.
What happened
In Schulte v. United States of America, Joshua Adam Schulte filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without prepaying them. The order states that Schulte was held at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York, and was representing himself.
The court ordered Schulte, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would permit installment deductions from his prison trust-fund account and provide six months of account statements. No summons would issue at that time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk to mail the order to Schulte and stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply on time. Judge Swain also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from the order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not address the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Schulte v. United States of America · No. 1:21-cv-05554
- Jesse Furman
- June 25, 2021
Background
Joshua Adam Schulte filed this civil action while held in the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York. The opinion states that he proceeded without a lawyer. He submitted his complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402—the $350 filing fee and $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. A request to proceed without prepayment requires a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prison trust-fund account, and the authorization directs the facility to 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
Within 30 days of the order, Schulte was required either to pay the $402 in fees or submit the application and prisoner authorization using docket number 1:21-CV-5554 (LTS). The Clerk was directed to mail him a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that the action would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Schulte complied and would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Schulte’s claims. It also warned about the potential consequences under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) of later dismissals qualifying as strikes.
Disposition
The order directed Schulte to pay the fees or submit the required forms within 30 days, and denied appellate permission to proceed without prepaying fees. It did not dismiss the action in the order itself; it stated that dismissal would follow if Schulte failed to comply.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.