Owens v. Orange County Jail
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:22-cv-06754
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Owens v. Orange County Jail, Judge Swain ordered payment or an IFP application within 30 days before the case could proceed.
Desean J. Owens, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, because he was required to pay the filing fees or submit the specified IFP materials before the action could proceed.
What happened
Owens v. Orange County Jail was filed by Desean J. Owens, who was incarcerated and represented himself. He submitted a complaint without paying the required fees or providing the documents needed to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court gave Owens 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments from his account and require certified account statements. The court said the case would be dismissed if he did not comply, but it did not dismiss the case in this order.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the claims in the complaint.
The detailed version
- Owens v. Orange County Jail · No. 7:22-cv-06754
- Cathy Seibel
- Aug. 15, 2022
Background
Desean J. Owens filed a civil action against Orange County Jail while incarcerated there. He proceeded without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees, or a prisoner authorization.
Fees and required documents
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402—the $350 filing fee and $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed IFP application and prisoner authorization. If IFP status is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The authorization also directs the facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted IFP status.
Order
The court ordered Owens, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 in fees or submit the IFP application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 22-CV-6754. 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 Owens complied. It further stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not address the merits of Owens's underlying claims. It also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner litigation statute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.