Lunney v. The City of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-07668
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Lunney v. City of New York, Judge Swain ordered George P. Lunney, Jr. to pay fees or submit an IFP application within 30 days.
George P. Lunney, Jr., whose case was conditioned on paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them.
What happened
In Lunney v. The City of New York, George P. Lunney, Jr. brought a civil action without a lawyer but submitted neither the required filing fees nor an application to proceed without paying them in advance.
The court gave Lunney 30 days to pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. No summons would issue at that time, and the case would be processed if he complied. The order stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the deadline.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on September 9, 2022. She also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Lunney v. The City of New York · No. 1:22-cv-07668
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 9, 2022
Background
George P. Lunney, Jr. brought this action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis.
Order
The court explained that a plaintiff starting a civil action must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying those fees. The court ordered Lunney, within 30 days of the order, to pay the $402 or submit the attached application. If the court granted the application, he would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees.
No summons would issue at that time. If Lunney 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 disposition
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.