Wallace v. New York Police Department
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-03414
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Wallace v. New York Police Department, Judge Swain ordered payment or prisoner authorization within 30 days or the action will be dismissed.
Timmy Wallace, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must satisfy the court’s fee or prisoner-authorization requirement to continue the action.
What happened
In Wallace v. New York Police Department, Timmy Wallace brought this action without a lawyer while incarcerated. The court said he had to pay the required fees or request permission to proceed without paying them upfront.
Wallace had not submitted the required prisoner authorization. That form would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account and provide the court with account statements. The total fees were $402, including a $52 administrative fee that does not apply if the court grants permission to proceed without prepayment.
The court ordered Wallace to pay the $402 or submit the completed authorization within 30 days. No summons would issue yet, and the action would be dismissed if he did not comply. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Wallace v. New York Police Department · No. 1:22-cv-03414
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 27, 2022
Background
Timmy Wallace, who was incarcerated in USP Canaan in Pennsylvania, filed this civil action without a lawyer against the New York Police Department and other defendants. The court addressed the filing requirements for an incarcerated person seeking to proceed without paying court fees upfront.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If permission to proceed without prepayment is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and send the court certified account statements for the preceding six months.
Wallace had not submitted the required prisoner authorization. The court ordered him, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $402 or complete and submit the attached authorization labeled with docket number 22-CV-3414 (LTS). The order stated that no summons would issue at that time. If Wallace complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he did not comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Other Warnings
The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also warned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a qualifying dismissal, or “strike,” under the prisoner-filing statute, potentially affecting a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees in future cases.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.