Roberts v. The NYS Department of Taxation and Finance
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-00208
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Roberts v. The NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Judge Swain ordered payment or an amended fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Jazmine I. Roberts, who was proceeding without a lawyer, and the defendants named in the action. The case could proceed only if Roberts paid the fees or submitted an adequate amended application within 30 days.
What happened
Jazmine I. Roberts brought Roberts v. The NYS Department of Taxation and Finance without a lawyer. She submitted an application asking to proceed without paying court fees upfront, but the application did not provide enough financial information.
The court ordered Roberts, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or submit a signed amended application. The amended application must provide information about her public benefits, cash, bank accounts, other assets, monthly expenses, and other financial obligations. The court did not issue a summons at that time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the case would be processed if Roberts complied, but it would be dismissed if she did not comply within the deadline. Judge Swain also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Roberts v. The NYS Department of Taxation and Finance · No. 1:22-cv-00208
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 11, 2022
Background
Jazmine I. Roberts brought this civil action without a lawyer. To proceed in federal court, a plaintiff must either pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without paying those fees upfront. The total fees identified by the court were $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee.
Roberts submitted an application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court found that the application did not establish that she was unable to pay. Roberts reported that she was unemployed and had received public benefits during the previous 12 months, but she did not identify the type or amount of those benefits. She also did not state whether she had cash, money in a bank account, other assets, or the values of those assets. In addition, she did not provide the amounts of her monthly expenses or other financial obligations.
Order
The court ordered Roberts, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $402 in fees, or complete, sign, and submit the attached amended application to proceed without prepaying fees. The amended application had to be labeled with docket number 1:22-CV-0208 (LTS) and provide facts addressing the financial deficiencies identified by the court.
The court explained that, if it granted the amended application, Roberts would be allowed to proceed without paying the fees upfront. No summons would issue at that time. If Roberts complied with the order, the action would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If she failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain 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 proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. This order addressed the fee application and the conditions for moving the case forward; it did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.