Harewood-Bey v. Biden
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-01472
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Harewood-Bey v. Biden, Judge Swain ordered payment of filing fees or an application to proceed without prepayment.
Diana Harewood-Bey and the two other plaintiffs she identified; the order required Harewood-Bey to pay the filing fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
What happened
Harewood-Bey v. Biden concerns Diana Harewood-Bey’s lawsuit, which she filed without a lawyer, individually and on behalf of two other plaintiffs. She submitted the complaint without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Harewood-Bey 30 days to pay $402 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. No summons would issue at that time, and the action would be dismissed if she did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not qualify for proceeding without prepayment of appellate fees. The order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the lawsuit’s underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Harewood-Bey v. Biden · No. 1:22-cv-01472
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 11, 2022
Background
Diana Harewood-Bey filed this action individually and on behalf of two other plaintiffs. The opinion states that she was proceeding without a lawyer. The complaint was initially filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and was transferred to the Southern District of New York on January 24, 2022.
A plaintiff starting a civil action in the district court must either pay the required filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. Harewood-Bey submitted the complaint without paying the $402 in fees and without submitting an application.
Order
The court ordered Harewood-Bey, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $402 in fees or submit the attached application to proceed without prepayment. The application was to identify docket number 22-CV-1472 (LTS). If the court granted the application, Harewood-Bey would be allowed to proceed without prepaying fees.
No summons would issue at that time. If Harewood-Bey complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If she failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Other Ruling
The court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not address the merits of the claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.