Coward v. Doe
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:22-cv-00628
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Coward v. Doe, Judge Swain ordered a prisoner to pay fees or authorize installment deductions within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Rodney Coward, a self-represented incarcerated plaintiff, must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Coward v. Doe, Rodney Coward, who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront. He did not submit the required authorization allowing deductions from his prison account.
The court ordered Coward to pay the full $402 in fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days. The authorization would allow deductions toward the $350 filing fee and provide the court with his account statements for the previous six months.
Judge Swain ordered that no summons issue for now and stated that the action will be dismissed if Coward does not comply. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order, finding that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Coward v. Doe · No. 7:22-cv-00628
- Kenneth Karas
- Jan. 25, 2022
Background
Rodney Coward, who is incarcerated at Bare Hill Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil action against John and Jane Doe, M.D., and other defendants. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, commonly called an application to proceed without payment upfront.
A prisoner seeking that status must also submit a signed prisoner authorization. That authorization permits the correctional facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner's account in installments and requires certified account statements for the preceding six months to be sent to the court. Coward submitted the fee application but not the prisoner authorization.
Court's Order
The court ordered Coward, within 30 days of the order, either to pay $402 in fees or to complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 22-CV-0628. The $402 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee; the administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court directed that no summons issue at that time. It stated that, if Coward complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures, but if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying appellate fees for that appeal. The Clerk was directed to mail the order to Coward and note service on the docket.
Classification
This is a procedural order because it addresses filing fees and the required prisoner authorization, not the merits of Coward's claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.