Allevato v. Mallozzi
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-01768
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Allevato v. Mallozzi, Judge Swain ordered Michael F. Allevato to correct his prisoner authorization or pay $402 before the case proceeds.
Michael F. Allevato and the continuation of his civil action in the Southern District of New York.
What happened
In Allevato v. Mallozzi, Michael F. Allevato, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action and asked to proceed without paying the fees upfront.
He submitted the required application and authorization, but the authorization directed deductions from his prison account to the federal court in the Northern District of New York rather than this court. The order gave him 30 days to pay $402 or submit a corrected authorization for this case.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no summons issue yet and said the case would be processed if Allevato complied. She also said the action would be dismissed if he did not comply and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Allevato v. Mallozzi · No. 1:22-cv-01768
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 11, 2022
Background
Michael F. Allevato, who was incarcerated at Mid-State Correctional Facility and represented himself, brought this civil action. To proceed without paying court fees upfront, a prisoner must submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization allows the court to collect the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner's account and requires certified account statements for the preceding six months.
Allevato submitted the application and authorization, but the authorization directed the deductions and account statements to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. This case was filed in the Southern District of New York.
Order
The court ordered Allevato, within 30 days of March 11, 2022, either to pay the $402 in fees or to complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 22-CV-1768 (LTS). 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.
No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that, if Allevato 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 court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order cautioned that a later dismissal as frivolous or for failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner litigation statute, but this order did not decide the claims' merits.
Disposition and Classification
This was a procedural order addressing the required fee payment or prisoner authorization before the case could proceed. It did not determine whether Allevato was right on the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.