Garcia v. John Doe 1
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:22-cv-02599
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Garcia v. John Doe #1, Judge Swain ordered Algiers Ramon Sanders Garcia to pay fees or submit required forms within 30 days.
Algiers Ramon Sanders Garcia, who was required to pay the filing fees or submit the required forms within 30 days for the case to proceed.
What happened
Algiers Ramon Sanders Garcia sued John Doe #1, John Doe #2, and John J. Kerwick without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint but did not pay the required fees or provide the forms needed to ask to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court ordered Garcia, within 30 days, either to pay $402 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. No summons would issue yet, and the court said the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Garcia v. John Doe 1 · No. 7:22-cv-02599
- Vincent Briccetti
- Mar. 31, 2022
Background
Algiers Ramon Sanders Garcia brought this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he was detained by the Westchester County Department of Correction. He submitted his complaint without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $52 for the administrative fee—or submit the documents required to request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that permission.
The court ordered Garcia to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay the $402 in fees, or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The documents were to identify docket number 22-CV-2599 (LTS). The prisoner authorization would direct the detention facility to deduct filing-fee payments from his account and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
Effect of the Order
No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Garcia complied, but that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the permitted time. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not address the merits of Garcia’s claims against the defendants.
Additional Warning
The court warned that a later dismissal of a federal civil action or appeal as frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim could count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). After three such strikes, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees in new federal civil actions unless the prisoner alleges imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.