Owens v. Orange County Jail
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:22-cv-06487
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Owens v. Orange County Jail, Judge Swain ordered DESEAN J. OWENS to pay fees or submit forms to proceed without prepayment.
DESEAN J. OWENS is required to pay the fees or submit the required forms within thirty days to continue this action. The defendants were not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
In DESEAN J. OWENS v. ORANGE COUNTY JAIL, ET AL., DESEAN J. OWENS filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying them. The opinion states that he is incarcerated at Orange County Jail and is representing himself.
The court gave DESEAN J. OWENS thirty days to either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application and prisoner authorization. If he submits the forms, the $350 filing fee will be collected from his prison account in installments. The court said no answer was required yet and warned that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order directing payment of fees or submission of the required forms. She also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Owens v. Orange County Jail · No. 7:22-cv-06487
- Vincent Briccetti
- Aug. 3, 2022
Background
DESEAN J. OWENS brought this civil action while incarcerated at Orange County Jail and representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing and administrative fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
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 submit the required forms to request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be paid in installments deducted from the prisoner’s account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
The court ordered DESEAN J. OWENS, within thirty days of the order, to either pay the $402 in fees or submit the application and prisoner authorization. The authorization would permit deductions from his prison account and require certified account statements for the previous six months. The court stated that no answer was required at that time and that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if he complied. It further stated that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed period.
Appeal and Effect
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.