Rosen v. The State of Florida
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-06938
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Rosen v. Florida, Judge Swain ordered proper payment or an IFP application within 30 days before the case could proceed.
The plaintiffs, including Samuel D. Rosen and the trust-related plaintiff identified in the docket, were required to correct the filing-fee or fee-waiver problem before the action could proceed.
What happened
Rosen v. The State of Florida began when Samuel D. Rosen, an attorney representing himself, filed a civil complaint and submitted a personal check. The court said the check was deficient because it was drawn on the Samuel D. Rosen 2006 Trust’s account.
The court explained that a civil case requires either payment of the $402 filing and administrative fees or a signed application to proceed without paying those fees in advance. It ordered the Clerk to return the check and said no summons would issue at that time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Rosen to submit proper payment as specified by the court within 30 days. If he did not comply, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling; the court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Rosen v. The State of Florida · No. 1:22-cv-06938
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 18, 2022
Background
Samuel D. Rosen, an attorney proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil action against the State of Florida and others. The opinion notes that the complaint’s caption was unclear about whether the intended plaintiff was Samuel D. Rosen, grantor and trustee of the Samuel D. Rosen 2006 Trust, or two separate plaintiffs. The Clerk opened the action with the latter two plaintiffs.
To proceed with a civil action in the Southern District of New York, a plaintiff must pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying those fees. Rosen submitted a personal check, but the court found it deficient. Among other reasons, the check was drawn on the Samuel D. Rosen 2006 Trust’s account rather than an account in the name of an active attorney.
Court’s Order
The court directed the Clerk to return the deficient check to Rosen. It directed Rosen to submit proper payment, as specified in the order, within 30 days. The order stated that no summons would issue at that time and that, if Rosen complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s procedures.
The court further ordered that if Rosen failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The court also certified that an appeal 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 against the defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.