Farrow v. Cordez

Background

Justin Farrow, who is incarcerated at Great Meadow Correctional Facility, brought this action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, commonly called an IFP application, but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.

Order

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 to begin a civil action—$350 for the filing fee and $52 for the administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting the required documents. If IFP status is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and send the court certified account statements covering the previous six months.

The court ordered Farrow to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay the $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 22-CV-5952 (LTS). No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that the action will be dismissed if Farrow does not comply. It also warns that a later dismissal as frivolous or for failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner filing-fee statute.

Ruling

Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed Farrow to provide the missing authorization or pay the fees and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. This is a procedural order addressing filing requirements; it does not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.