DiBenedetto v. Coley
- Philip Halpern
- 7:22-cv-05926
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In DiBenedetto v. Coley, Judge Swain ordered Vincent DiBenedetto to pay $402 or submit an IFP application within 30 days, or the case would be dismissed.
Vincent DiBenedetto, who was required to pay the fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days; the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
What happened
In DiBenedetto v. Coley, Vincent DiBenedetto filed the action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them. The opinion states that he was representing himself.
The court ordered DiBenedetto, within 30 days, to either pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. No summons would issue at that time, and the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also stated that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- DiBenedetto v. Coley · No. 7:22-cv-05926
- Philip Halpern
- July 15, 2022
Background
Vincent DiBenedetto filed this action against Maurice Coley, Badge #4013, and other defendants. The opinion states that DiBenedetto was proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without an application to proceed without prepayment of fees.
Order
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court gave DiBenedetto 30 days from the date of the order to take one of those steps. If he submitted the application, it was to identify docket number 22-CV-5926 (LTS). If the court granted the application, he could proceed without prepaying the fees.
No summons would issue at that time. The case would be processed by the Clerk’s Office if DiBenedetto complied, but the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed period.
Appeal-fee ruling and disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. This order addressed payment of fees or an application to proceed without prepayment; it did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.