Darley v. United States of America
- Philip Halpern
- 7:22-cv-00714
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Darley v. United States, Judge Swain ordered a prisoner to pay fees or submit authorization before the case could proceed.
Nicholas Darley, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, and the further processing of his civil action.
What happened
Nicholas Darley, who is incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, filed Darley v. United States of America in the Southern District of New York. He submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court gave Darley 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or complete, sign, and submit the authorization. The authorization would allow installment deductions of the $350 filing fee from his prison account; the $52 administrative fee does not apply if the court grants his application to proceed without prepayment.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk to mail the order to Darley and stated that no summons would issue yet. If Darley complies, the case will be processed; if he does not, the action will be dismissed. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Darley v. United States of America · No. 7:22-cv-00714
- Philip Halpern
- Jan. 28, 2022
Background
Nicholas Darley brought this civil action against the United States of America and other defendants while incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York. He is representing himself. Darley submitted an application to proceed without prepaying the filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Fees and prisoner authorization
The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting a completed and signed application and prisoner authorization. If the court grants permission to proceed without prepayment, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's trust-fund account. The authorization also directs the prison facility to send the court certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment under the statute.
Order
The court ordered Darley, within 30 days of January 28, 2022, to either pay the $402 in fees or complete, sign, and submit the attached prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 1:22-CV-0714 (LTS). The Clerk was directed to mail him the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Darley complied, the action would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the permitted time, the action would be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order did not decide the merits of Darley's claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.