Albritton v. Fredella
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-04512
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Albritton v. Fredella, Chief Judge Swain ordered Jemal Albritton to correct his prisoner authorization or pay $402 in fees within 30 days.
Jemal Albritton, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, was required to correct his prisoner authorization or pay the filing fees within 30 days. The action could be dismissed if he failed to comply.
What happened
In Albritton v. Fredella, Jemal Albritton filed a civil action while incarcerated and asked to proceed without paying court fees in advance.
Albritton submitted an application and authorization, but the authorization did not state how much money would be collected from his prison account. The court gave him 30 days either to pay $402 in fees or submit the attached authorization correctly completed and labeled with the case number. No summons would issue at that time.
Chief Judge Swain stated that the case would be processed if Albritton complied, but that it would be dismissed if he did not. The court also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Albritton v. Fredella · No. 1:22-cv-04512
- Laura Swain
- June 8, 2022
Background
Jemal Albritton, who was incarcerated at Woodbourne Correctional Facility, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization was incomplete because it did not specify the amount to be collected from his prison account.
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 request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that permission is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified copies of the account statements for the previous six months.
Within 30 days, Albritton was ordered either to pay the $402 or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 22-CV-4512 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that, if Albritton complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Other Ruling and Effect
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The opinion did not address the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.