Degree v. Corey
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:21-cv-11012
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Degree v. Corey, Judge Swain ordered payment or an application to proceed without fees, warning that noncompliance would lead to dismissal.
Dontae Degree, who must pay the $5.00 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; the action will be dismissed if he does not comply.
What happened
Donta[e] Degree filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus without paying the $5 filing fee or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court also noted that Degree was representing himself.
The court gave Degree 30 days to pay the fee or submit a signed application. No response from Joseph Corey was required at that stage, and the case would proceed through the Clerk’s Office if Degree complied.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the action would be dismissed if Degree did not comply on time. She also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Degree v. Corey · No. 7:21-cv-11012
- Cathy Seibel
- Jan. 3, 2022
Background
Dontae Degree, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against Joseph Corey, identified in the caption as Superintendent. Degree submitted the petition without the required $5.00 filing fee and without an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court directed Degree, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $5.00 filing fee or complete and submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees. The application was to include docket number 21-CV-11012 (LTS). The court explained that, if the application were granted, Degree could proceed without prepaying fees.
The court stated that no answer from Corey was required at that time. If Degree complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If Degree failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Service
Judge Laura Taylor Swain 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 appeal without prepaying fees. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Degree and record service on the docket.
Result
This order did not decide whether Degree was entitled to habeas relief. It addressed only the filing fee or fee-waiver requirement and the consequences of failing to satisfy that requirement.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.