Bentley v. Superintendent, Green Haven Corr. Fac.
- Philip Halpern
- 7:22-cv-03818
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Bentley v. Superintendent, Judge Swain ordered Garfield Bentley to pay the fee or submit a request to proceed without prepayment.
Garfield Bentley, who must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
Garfield Bentley filed a petition for a court order concerning his custody in Bentley v. Superintendent, Green Haven Corr. Fac., without paying the $5 filing fee or submitting the required application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court gave Bentley 30 days from May 11, 2022, to pay the fee or submit a signed application. The court said no response from the Superintendent was required at that time.
If Bentley complies, the case will proceed through the Clerk’s Office. If he does not, the action will be dismissed. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Bentley v. Superintendent, Green Haven Corr. Fac. · No. 7:22-cv-03818
- Philip Halpern
- May 11, 2022
Background
Garfield Bentley, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which is a request for court review of a person’s custody. He did not pay the required $5 filing fee and did not submit an application to proceed without prepaying court fees.
Order
The court ordered Bentley, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees. The application had to identify docket number 22-CV-3818 (LTS). If the court granted the application, Bentley could proceed without paying fees in advance.
The court stated that the Superintendent did not need to respond at that time. If Bentley complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and classification
The court certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the substance of Bentley’s custody-related petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.