Curtis v. The State of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-07201
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Curtis v. New York: Judge Swain ordered Curtis to pay fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days, warning dismissal otherwise.
Keane Curtis, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the required prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Curtis v. The State of New York, Keane Curtis filed a civil case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying court fees in advance. He submitted the required application but not the separate authorization needed for payments from his prison account.
The court gave Curtis 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit the signed prisoner authorization. No summons will be issued yet, and the case will be processed if he complies. The court warned that the action will be dismissed if he does not comply within the deadline.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Curtis v. The State of New York · No. 1:22-cv-07201
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 24, 2022
Background
Keane Curtis, who was incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility, brought this action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Requirements in the Order
The court explained that a prisoner proceeding without prepaying fees must either pay $402—the $350 filing fee and $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application and prisoner authorization. If the court grants permission to proceed without prepayment, 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 correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Curtis, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 22-CV-7201 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. If Curtis complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Effect
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not address the merits of Curtis’s underlying claims. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.