Lloyd v. Regisford
- Philip Halpern
- 7:22-cv-03744
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Lloyd v. Regisford, Judge Swain ordered Lloyd to pay filing fees or submit forms to seek fee-free filing within 30 days.
Donell Lloyd, a detained prisoner representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms for the action to proceed; the defendants were not yet required to respond.
What happened
Donell Lloyd, who was detained and representing himself, filed a civil action against H.O. Regisford and other defendants without paying the required fees or submitting the required forms. The order did not decide the claims in his complaint.
The court gave Lloyd 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization form. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The court did not otherwise rule on the lawsuit.
The detailed version
- Lloyd v. Regisford · No. 7:22-cv-03744
- Philip Halpern
- May 11, 2022
Background
Donell Lloyd filed this civil action while detained at Auburn Correctional Facility and representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees, or a prisoner authorization form.
Order
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402—$350 for the filing fee and $52 for the administrative fee—or seek IFP status. If IFP status is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Lloyd, within 30 days of May 11, 2022, to do one of two things: pay the $402 in fees, or submit the attached IFP application and prisoner authorization forms, labeled with docket number 22-CV-3744 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that, if Lloyd complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Other ruling and effect
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order also cautioned that certain future dismissals of a prisoner’s actions or appeals could count as strikes under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. This order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.