Pearson v. Gessner
- Philip Halpern
- 7:22-cv-09278
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Pearson v. Gessner, Judge Swain ordered Pearson to pay fees or submit applications to proceed without prepaying within 30 days.
Robert Pearson, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Robert Pearson v. Gessner, et al., Robert Pearson, whom the opinion says is incarcerated at Orange County Jail and representing himself, filed a civil action without paying fees or submitting completed applications to proceed without prepaying them.
The court ordered Pearson, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application and authorization allowing filing-fee deductions from his account. The court said no answer was required yet and that failure to comply would result in dismissal of the action.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Pearson v. Gessner · No. 7:22-cv-09278
- Philip Halpern
- Nov. 2, 2022
Background
Robert Pearson filed this civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Pearson was incarcerated at Orange County Jail and was representing himself.
Order regarding fees and filing documents
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402—the $350 filing fee and $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Pearson had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would permit the facility holding him to deduct the $350 filing fee from his account in installments and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Pearson to take one of those steps within 30 days of the order. The documents were to identify docket number 22-CV-9278 (LTS). The court stated that no answer was required at that time and that, if Pearson complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Other ruling
The court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The court also cautioned that certain dismissals of prisoner actions can count as strikes under the federal prisoner-litigation statute, and that three such strikes can limit a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees, subject to the statutory exception stated in the order.
Classification
This is a procedural order concerning payment of filing fees and an application to proceed without prepaying them. It does not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.