Bazelais v. New York State Department of Corrections Community Supervision

Background

Wilner Bazelais, who was incarcerated at the George R. Vierno Center and represented himself, filed this civil action. A prisoner must either pay the required filing and administrative fees or request permission to proceed without paying them upfront by submitting an application and a prisoner authorization.

Bazelais submitted the application to proceed without upfront payment, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization. That authorization directs the facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner’s account in installments and to provide the court with certified account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply when the court grants permission to proceed without upfront payment.

Order

The court ordered Bazelais, within 30 days of the order, either to pay $402 in fees or to complete and submit the prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 22-CV-2773 (LTS). The court did not issue a summons at that time. It stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Bazelais complied, but that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without upfront payment for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Bazelais’s claims.