Singleton v. City of New York

Background

Aaron Singleton, who was incarcerated at the Vernon C. Bain Center, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without completing an application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Payment or fee-waiver requirements

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402—the $350 filing fee and $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the fee-waiver application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization also permits those deductions and requires certified copies of the prisoner’s account statements for the preceding six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this fee-waiver status.

Order

The court ordered Singleton to pay the $402 in fees or submit the completed forms within 30 days of the order. The forms were to identify docket number 22-CV-0615 (LTS). The Clerk was directed to mail Singleton a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.

If Singleton failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed without prejudice. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion did not address the merits of Singleton’s underlying claims.