Hayes v. Condlin
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:22-cv-07295
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Hayes v. Condlin, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Earl Hayes to pay $402 or submit an IFP application within 30 days.
Earl Hayes, who was required to pay $402 or submit a signed IFP application within 30 days; the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
What happened
In Hayes v. Condlin, Earl Hayes filed a civil action without a lawyer and sent a $405 money order. The court said plaintiffs must either pay $402 in fees or request permission to proceed without paying the fees upfront.
The court ordered the Cashiers Unit to return Hayes’s $405 money order. It gave Hayes 30 days to pay exactly $402 by an approved method or complete, sign, and submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees. No summons would issue at that time.
The order stated that the case would be processed if Hayes complied and would be dismissed if he did not. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from the order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Hayes v. Condlin · No. 7:22-cv-07295
- Kenneth Karas
- Aug. 30, 2022
Background
Earl Hayes brought this civil action without a lawyer against Brady Condlin and Steven Schmoke. On August 25, 2022, Hayes submitted the complaint with a $405 money order.
Payment or fee-waiver requirement
The court explained that beginning a civil action in the Southern District of New York requires either payment of $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or a signed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without paying the fees upfront.
The court directed the Cashiers Unit to return Hayes’s $405 money order. It directed Hayes, within 30 days of the order, to either submit exactly $402 in fees or complete, sign, and submit the attached IFP application. The order listed acceptable payment methods and stated that personal checks would not be accepted.
Ruling and effect
The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. If Hayes complied with the order, 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.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The opinion does 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.