Ezekwo v. OPMC
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-07684
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ezekwo v. OPMC, Judge Swain ordered the pro se plaintiff to pay filing fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
The order directly affects pro se plaintiff Ifeoma Ezekwo by requiring her to pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days. Failure to comply will result in dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Ezekwo v. OPMC, Ifeoma Ezekwo filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepayment of fees.
The court gave Ezekwo 30 days from the order’s date to pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. No summons will issue yet, and the action will be dismissed if she does not comply.
Judge Swain also denied permission to proceed without prepayment for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Ezekwo v. OPMC · No. 1:22-cv-07684
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 14, 2022
Background
Ifeoma Ezekwo brought this civil action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without the required filing fees and without an application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an in forma pauperis application.
Order
The court explained that filing the civil action requires either payment of $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepayment. Within 30 days of the order, Ezekwo must do one of those two things. If she submits the application, it must identify docket number 22-CV-7684 (LTS). If the court grants the application, she may proceed without paying the fees in advance.
No summons will issue at this time. If Ezekwo complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If she does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without prepayment of fees for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.