Atuegwu v. IRS USA
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-01587
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Atuegwu v. IRS USA, Judge Swain ordered Chinwe Atuegwu to pay filing fees or submit a corrected fee-waiver application.
Chinwe Atuegwu, who must either pay the fees or submit a corrected fee-waiver application to continue the action.
What happened
In Atuegwu v. IRS USA, Chinwe Atuegwu brought a civil case without a lawyer and submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees. The application was for an appeal, and it did not provide enough information about her finances.
The court said Atuegwu must either pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed, corrected application showing that she cannot afford those fees. The court also said that no summons would issue yet and warned that the case will be dismissed if she does not comply within 30 days.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order directing payment or a corrected application. She also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Atuegwu v. IRS USA · No. 1:22-cv-01587
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 1, 2022
Background
Chinwe Atuegwu brought the action without a lawyer. To begin a civil case in federal court, a plaintiff must either pay the required fees or ask to proceed without paying them in advance. Atuegwu submitted an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application, but the court found that it was an application for an appeal rather than for this case.
Atuegwu stated that she was unemployed, received unspecified government support, and lived in government housing. The court found that she had not provided enough other information about her financial condition to show that she could not pay the fees.
Order
The court ordered Atuegwu, within 30 days of March 1, 2022, to do one of two things: pay $402 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee, or complete, sign, and submit the attached amended IFP application. The amended application must identify the case number and provide facts showing that she cannot afford the fees.
The court did not grant the existing IFP application. It stated that, if the amended application is granted, Atuegwu may proceed without prepaying the fees. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the action will be dismissed if Atuegwu does not comply within the allowed period.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Atuegwu and record service on the docket.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.