Stepherson v. Haaland

Background

Mark Anthony Stepherson proceeded without a lawyer. He filed this civil action without paying the required filing fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization form. The court also questioned whether Stepherson personally signed and filed the complaint. Although he appeared to be detained at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility in Georgia, the complaint was mailed from an Arizona address that had also been used to file similar complaints in other cases.

Required filings

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If permission to proceed without prepaying fees is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that permission.

Within 30 days of the order, Stepherson was required to submit either the $402 payment or the required application and authorization forms. He also had to submit the attached declaration confirming his signature on the complaint. All submissions had to include docket number 22-CV-9202 (LTS). The court warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal of the action. No summons would issue at that time.

Other rulings

The court cautioned that a future dismissal as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim could count as a “strike” under the prisoner litigation statute. It also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not decide the merits of Stepherson’s underlying claims. The order addressed only the filing-fee requirements and the question whether Stepherson personally signed and submitted the complaint.