Christian v. Adams
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-01780
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Christian v. Adams, Judge Swain ordered Bryan Christian to pay filing fees or request authorization to proceed without prepayment before the case could proceed.
Bryan Christian, whose case could proceed only after he paid the required fees or submitted an application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days.
What happened
In Christian v. Adams, Bryan Christian filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them. The required fees were $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee.
The court gave Christian 30 days from March 18, 2022, to either pay the fees or complete, sign, and submit an application to proceed without prepayment. No summons would be issued at that time. If he did not comply within the deadline, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the merits of Christian’s claims.
The detailed version
- Christian v. Adams · No. 1:22-cv-01780
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 18, 2022
Background
Bryan Christian brought this civil action without a lawyer. Under the statutes cited by the court, a plaintiff must either pay the filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. Christian submitted the complaint without paying the $402 in fees and without submitting that application.
Order
The court ordered Christian, within 30 days of March 18, 2022, to either pay the $402 total or complete, sign, and submit the attached application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The court stated that, if it granted the application, Christian could proceed without paying the fees in advance. The application was to include docket number 1:22-CV-1780 (LTS).
No summons would issue at that time. If Christian complied, the action would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Effect
The court certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain’s order addressed filing requirements only; it did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.