Vargas v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Sarah Netburn
- 1:22-cv-07780
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Vargas v. Commissioner of Social Security, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Debra C. Vargas to pay fees or submit a complete, signed IFP application within 30 days.
Debra C. Vargas, who must either submit a complete, signed amended application to proceed without prepaying fees or pay $402 within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Vargas v. Commissioner of Social Security, Debra C. Vargas filed the case without a lawyer and submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees. The application was missing its second page and was unsigned.
The court ordered Vargas, within 30 days, either to submit the attached amended application or pay $402 in fees: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. The court said no summons would issue yet, and that the case would be dismissed if she did not comply.
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 paying fees. The order did not decide the underlying Social Security dispute.
The detailed version
- Vargas v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:22-cv-07780
- Sarah Netburn
- Sept. 12, 2022
Background
Debra C. Vargas brought the action without a lawyer. To proceed with a civil case in the Southern District of New York, a plaintiff must either pay the required fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying them. Vargas submitted an application with her complaint, but it was missing its second page and was unsigned.
Order
The court ordered Vargas, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: submit the attached amended application to proceed without prepayment of fees, labeled with docket number 22-CV-7780 (LTS), or pay $402. The $402 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. If the court grants the amended application, Vargas may proceed without prepaying the fees.
No summons was to issue at that time. If Vargas complies with the order, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If she does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal-fee ruling and effect
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. This order addressed filing-fee and fee-waiver requirements; it did not decide the merits of Vargas’s Social Security claim.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.