Agnew v. Department of Corrections, City of New York

Background

Joseph Agnew filed this civil action without a lawyer. He is detained at the Vernon C. Bain Center on Rikers Island. He originally filed the complaint with Ruddy Osias and other detainees, but the court separated the plaintiffs’ claims and opened a separate action for Agnew under docket number 22-CV-1010.

Fees and required filings

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or ask to proceed without prepaying the fees. To make that request, Agnew had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account, and the authorization permits the facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.

Agnew submitted the complaint without paying the fees and without submitting a completed application or prisoner authorization. The court ordered him, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit both documents. The documents were to identify docket number 22-CV-1010 (LTS).

Order and effect

The court directed that no summons issue at that time. If Agnew complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The order itself did not resolve the claims against the defendants.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order also cautioned that certain future dismissals could count as “strikes” under the prisoner-litigation statute, potentially limiting a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees after three such strikes, subject to the statutory exception for imminent danger of serious physical injury.