Morgan v. Hartman
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-03367
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Morgan v. Hartman, Judge Swain ordered Michael Morgan, who has no lawyer, to pay fees or apply to proceed without prepayment, or face dismissal without prejudice.
Michael Morgan, who was required to pay the filing and administrative fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them within 30 days; otherwise, his action would be dismissed without prejudice.
What happened
In Morgan v. Hartman, Michael Morgan filed a civil action without a lawyer but did not pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Morgan 30 days to pay $402 or submit the attached application. No summons would be issued at that time, and the action would be dismissed without prejudice if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying appeal fees.
The detailed version
- Morgan v. Hartman · No. 1:22-cv-03367
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 26, 2022
Background
Michael Morgan brought this civil action without a lawyer against Scott Hartman and other defendants. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without filing an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Order
The court explained that filing the civil action required either payment of $402.00—consisting of a $350.00 filing fee and a $52.00 administrative fee—or submission of a signed IFP application. Within 30 days of the order, Morgan had to take one of those steps and identify the case by docket number 22-CV-3367 (LTS) if he submitted the application.
The court directed that no summons issue at that time. If Morgan complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its regular procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the dismissal would not bar refiling.
Appeal-related ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.