Joseph v. County of Westchester
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-08891
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Joseph v. County of Westchester, Judge Swain ordered the self-represented plaintiff to pay $402 or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees, warning of dismissal.
Thomas T. Joseph, who was required to pay the filing fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying them within 30 days; the action could be dismissed if he failed to comply.
What happened
Joseph v. County of Westchester concerns a complaint filed by Thomas T. Joseph against the County of Westchester and other defendants. Joseph represented himself and filed the complaint without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Joseph 30 days to pay $402, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee, or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. No summons would issue at that time, and the court said the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not address the merits of Joseph’s claims.
The detailed version
- Joseph v. County of Westchester · No. 1:22-cv-08891
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 20, 2022
Background
Thomas T. Joseph filed this action against the County of Westchester and other defendants. The opinion states that Joseph proceeded without a lawyer. He submitted a complaint but did not pay the required fees and did not submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay $402—the $350 filing fee plus the $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees. The court ordered Joseph, within 30 days of the order’s date, to do one of those two things. If he submitted the application, it was to identify docket number 22-CV-8891 (LTS). The court noted that, if the application were granted, Joseph could proceed without prepaying the fees.
No summons would issue at that time. If Joseph 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
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. This order addressed filing-fee requirements and did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.