Fredricks v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-00622
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Fredricks v. Doe: Judge Swain ordered Nigel Fredricks to pay fees or submit forms within 30 days, warning that the case would be dismissed otherwise.
Nigel Fredricks, who was required to pay the fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Fredricks v. Doe, Nigel Fredricks filed a civil case without a lawyer and without paying the required fees or submitting completed forms to proceed without prepaying them. The opinion says he was incarcerated at Otis Bantum Correctional Facility on Rikers Island.
The court ordered Fredricks, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. That authorization would allow installment deductions from his account and provide account statements. No summons would issue at that time, and the court warned that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Fredricks v. Doe · No. 1:22-cv-00622
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 24, 2022
Background
Nigel Fredricks filed the action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he was incarcerated at Otis Bantum Correctional Facility on Rikers Island. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and send certified account statements for the previous six months to the court. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that status.
Order
Within 30 days of the order, Fredricks was required to pay the $402 or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 22-CV-0622 (LTS). The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. If Fredricks complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The order did not decide the merits of his claims.
The court also 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 was directed to mail Fredricks a copy of the order and note service on the docket.
Classification basis
This is a procedural order concerning filing fees and permission to proceed without prepaying fees. It does not resolve the underlying dispute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.