Herbin v. The City of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-05890
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Herbin v. The City of New York, Judge Swain ordered Herbin to pay filing fees or submit a fuller fee-waiver application.
Reginald Herbin and the processing of his pending action against The City of New York and the other named defendants.
What happened
Reginald Herbin brought this case without a lawyer. He submitted an application asking to proceed without paying the filing fees in advance, but the application did not show clearly that he could not pay.
The court gave Herbin 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit an amended application explaining how he pays his living expenses and providing facts showing that he cannot afford the fees. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be dismissed if he does not comply within that time.
Judge Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying claims in the case.
The detailed version
- Herbin v. The City of New York · No. 1:22-cv-05890
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 22, 2022
Background
Reginald Herbin filed this action without a lawyer. To proceed with a civil case in the Southern District of New York, he had to pay $402 in fees— a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without paying the fees in advance. That request is commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP).
Herbin submitted an IFP application. The court found that his answers did not establish that he was unable to pay. The application said that he was unemployed but had an unspecified source of income. It also stated that he had no resources and no expenses, while listing $2,000 in debt for leased furniture. Because Herbin did not explain how he paid his living expenses, the court could not determine that he lacked sufficient funds to pay the fees.
Order
The court ordered Herbin, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $402 in fees or submit an amended IFP application. The amended application must identify docket number 22-CV-5890 (LTS) and address the deficiencies by providing facts showing that Herbin cannot pay the filing fees. If the court grants the amended application, Herbin may proceed without paying the fees in advance.
No summons will issue at this time. If Herbin complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal ruling and classification
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith, and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order addressed filing-fee eligibility and case processing; it did not decide the merits of Herbin’s claims. This is a procedural order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.