Gibson v. St. Elizabeth Medical Center Hospital Executive Director
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:22-cv-04213
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Gibson v. Mount Vernon Montefiore Hospital Executive Director, Judge Swain ordered David Gibson to pay $402 or submit paperwork to proceed without prepaying fees.
David Gibson, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must satisfy the court’s filing-fee or fee-waiver requirements before this transferred action proceeds.
What happened
In Gibson v. Mount Vernon Montefiore Hospital Executive Director, David Gibson, who was incarcerated and representing himself, brought a civil-rights complaint about events at several facilities. The Northern District of New York transferred claims concerning Mount Vernon Montefiore Hospital and Fishkill Correctional Facility to the Southern District of New York as a separate action.
The court ordered Gibson, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or to submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees, along with authorization for installment deductions from his prisoner account. The court did not issue a summons at that time. It stated that the action would be dismissed without prejudice if Gibson did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide whether Gibson’s civil-rights claims were legally valid.
The detailed version
- Gibson v. St. Elizabeth Medical Center Hospital Executive Director · No. 7:22-cv-04213
- Kenneth Karas
- May 24, 2022
Background
David Gibson filed a prisoner civil-rights complaint without a lawyer in the Northern District of New York. The complaint concerned events at Mount Vernon Montefiore Hospital, Fishkill Correctional Facility, Marcy Correctional Facility Residential Mental Health Unit, and St. Elizabeth Medical Center. The Northern District severed the claims arising at Mount Vernon Montefiore Hospital and Fishkill Correctional Facility and transferred them to the Southern District of New York, where they became this separate action.
Filing-fee requirement
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay the fees for a new civil action or request permission to proceed without prepaying them. The total fee was $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. If the court grants a prisoner’s application to proceed without prepaying fees, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner must submit a signed application and authorization allowing those deductions, along with certified account statements for the preceding six months.
Although Gibson had paid filing fees in the Northern District action, the court held that the severed claims constituted a new civil action. The court therefore required Gibson to pay the fees for this action or submit the required application and authorization.
Order and disposition
The court ordered Gibson to comply within 30 days of the order by either paying $402 or submitting the application and prisoner authorization. No summons would issue at that time. If Gibson complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice.
The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not address the merits of Gibson’s civil-rights claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.