Fredricks v. Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-07661
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fredricks v. Doe, Judge Swain ordered Nigel Fredricks to pay fees or submit forms to proceed, warning that noncompliance would lead to dismissal.
Nigel Fredricks, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, and the pending civil action against Captain John Doe and the other named defendants.
What happened
In Fredricks v. Doe, Nigel Fredricks filed a civil lawsuit while incarcerated and without a lawyer. He submitted his complaint without paying the required fees or completing the forms needed to ask to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court gave Fredricks 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments from his prison account if the application were granted.
If Fredricks did not comply, the action would be dismissed; no defendant had to answer yet. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not qualify for fee-free status because it would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Fredricks v. Doe · No. 1:22-cv-07661
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 9, 2022
Background
Nigel Fredricks, who was incarcerated at Auburn Correctional Facility, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He filed the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Fredricks had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission were granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act would require collection of the $350 filing fee through installments deducted from his prison account. The $52 administrative fee would not apply if the court granted permission to proceed without prepayment.
The court ordered Fredricks, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 22-CV-7661 (LTS). No answer was required from the defendants at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Fredricks complied, and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed period.
Appeal and Disposition
The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal. This order did not decide the underlying claims in the lawsuit; it addressed the required payment or filing of documents before the case could proceed.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.