Donovan v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Sarah Cave
- 1:21-cv-10824
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Donovan v. Commissioner of Social Security, Judge Swain ordered Amanda Donovan to pay fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
Amanda Donovan must, within 30 days, either pay the $402 in fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees. If she does not comply, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
Amanda Donovan filed this case against the Commissioner of Social Security without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court gave Donovan 30 days to pay $402 or complete, sign, and submit the attached application. No summons would be issued immediately, and the action would be dismissed if she did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order and denied Donovan permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Donovan v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:21-cv-10824
- Sarah Cave
- Jan. 3, 2022
Background
Amanda Donovan brought this action without a lawyer. She submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court explained that filing the civil action required either payment of $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The court ordered Donovan, within 30 days, to pay the $402 or complete, sign, and submit the attached application, labeling it with docket number 1:21-CV-10824 (LTS).
If the court granted the application, Donovan could proceed without prepaying the fees. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Donovan and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The action would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures if Donovan complied; if she did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal-related ruling
The court 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 addressed filing-fee and application requirements; it did not decide the underlying Social Security dispute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.