Pearson v. New York State
- Philip Halpern
- 7:21-cv-05670
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Pearson v. New York State, Judge Swain ordered Robert Pearson to pay fees or submit prisoner authorization before the case could proceed.
Robert Pearson, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the required prisoner authorization for the action to proceed.
What happened
In Pearson v. State of New York, Robert Pearson, who is incarcerated in the Orange County Jail, filed a civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without paying the fees upfront, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court gave Pearson 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or complete and submit the authorization. The authorization would allow payments toward the $350 filing fee to be deducted from his prisoner account. The court also said that no summons would issue at that time.
If Pearson does not comply within 30 days, the action will be dismissed; if he complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Pearson v. New York State · No. 7:21-cv-05670
- Philip Halpern
- July 1, 2021
Background
Robert Pearson, who is incarcerated in the Orange County Jail, filed this civil action without a lawyer. To proceed without paying court fees upfront, a prisoner must submit an application to proceed without prepayment of fees and a signed prisoner authorization. The authorization permits the court to collect the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner’s account and requires certified copies of the account statements for the prior six months.
Pearson submitted the application to proceed without prepayment of fees but did not submit the prisoner authorization.
Order
The court ordered Pearson, within 30 days of the order, to either pay $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. The order explains that the $402 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee, but the administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment of fees. Pearson was instructed to label the authorization with docket number 21-CV-5670 (LTS).
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Pearson a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Pearson 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.
Appeal and Caution
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 permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also cautioned that a later dismissal for being frivolous or for failing to state a claim could count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Three such strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees in future actions, unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.