Almonte v. Law Enforcement Agency
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-00080
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Almonte v. Law Enforcement Agency, Judge Swain required payment or an IFP application and prisoner authorization before processing the case.
Juan Carlos Almonte and the processing of his civil action against Law Enforcement Agency.
What happened
Juan Carlos Almonte, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action against Law Enforcement Agency without paying the required fees or submitting the documents needed to request permission to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Almonte 30 days from January 7, 2022, to either pay $402 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment deductions from his prison account for the filing fee and provide the court with account statements. No summons would issue at that time.
If Almonte did not comply, the action would be dismissed; if he complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order. The order did not address the merits of Almonte’s claims.
The detailed version
- Almonte v. Law Enforcement Agency · No. 1:22-cv-00080
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 7, 2022
Background
Juan Carlos Almonte, who was incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and proceeded without a lawyer, filed this civil action without paying the required filing fees. He also did not submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Fees and required documents
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $52 for the administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants that application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court ordered Almonte, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 22-CV-0080 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. If he complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case according to its procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an 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 court also cautioned about the possible consequences under federal law if a prisoner’s future federal actions or appeals are dismissed for specified reasons, including frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim. This order did not decide whether Almonte’s underlying claims were legally valid.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.