Williams v. Colby

Background

Rashon Williams filed this civil action while detained at the Orange County Correctional Facility and representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Filing-fee requirements

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Williams had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission were granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act would require the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from his account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

Within 30 days of the order, Williams had to pay the $402 or submit the required application and authorization, labeled with docket number 22-CV-4022 (LTS). The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. It stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Williams complied, and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed period.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for that appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Williams’s claims.