Roundtree v. Jane Doe 1
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:22-cv-01697
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Roundtree v. Orange County Jail, Judge Swain ordered payment or an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Rashaun M. Roundtree, who was required to pay the filing fees or submit the required application and authorization before the action could proceed; the case was subject to dismissal if he did not comply.
What happened
In Roundtree v. Orange County Jail, Rashaun M. Roundtree filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The opinion says he is incarcerated and represented himself.
The court gave Roundtree 30 days to pay $402 or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installment payments from his account. No summons would issue yet, and the court warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the claims’ underlying merits.
The detailed version
- Roundtree v. Jane Doe 1 · No. 7:22-cv-01697
- Cathy Seibel
- Mar. 1, 2022
Background
Rashaun M. Roundtree filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The opinion states that Roundtree is incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility and is representing himself.
Required filing or payment
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees. If the court grants that application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner must also submit an authorization directing the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Roundtree, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the attached application. The application was to identify docket number 22-CV-1697 (LTS). No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that, if Roundtree complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Roundtree to pay the fees or submit the required application and authorization. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.