Labombard v. Harrell
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-02196
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Labombard v. Harrell, Chief Judge Swain ordered Labombard to pay fees or submit a corrected prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Schoen M. Labombard, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit a corrected prisoner authorization before the case can proceed.
What happened
In Labombard v. Harrell, Schoen M. Labombard, who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront and a prisoner authorization. The authorization, however, directed payments to the wrong federal court.
The court gave Labombard 30 days to either pay $402.00 in fees or submit the attached corrected authorization labeled with this case’s docket number. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal of the action.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk to mail the order to Labombard and record service. She also ruled that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Labombard v. Harrell · No. 1:22-cv-02196
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 18, 2022
Background
Schoen M. Labombard, who is incarcerated at Greene Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer, brought this action against Officer Brian Harrell and other defendants. Labombard submitted an application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. A prisoner authorization permits the court to direct the correctional facility to deduct the filing fee from the prisoner’s account in installments and to send the court certified account statements for the preceding six months.
The authorization Labombard submitted directed the deducted funds to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, rather than to the Southern District of New York.
Order
The court ordered Labombard, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $402.00 filing and administrative fees, or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. If he submits the authorization, it must identify docket number 22-CV-2196 (LTS).
The court stated that no summons would issue at that time. If Labombard complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed. The order did not itself dismiss the action.
Other Rulings
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The Clerk was directed to mail Labombard a copy of the order and note service on the docket. The court also cautioned that certain dismissals of prisoner actions can count as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.