Keitt v. United States
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:22-cv-09954
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Keitt v. United States, Judge Broderick ordered Keitt to pay $5 or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days, without deciding the petition.
Jayvon Keitt must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; the action will be dismissed if he does not comply. The United States was not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
In Keitt v. United States, Jayvon Keitt, representing himself, filed a petition for a federal custody remedy without paying the $5 filing fee or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court gave Keitt 30 days to pay the fee or complete, sign, and submit the application. No response from the United States was required yet. The court said the case would be dismissed if Keitt did not comply.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not decide the petition's underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Keitt v. United States · No. 1:22-cv-09954
- Vernon Broderick
- Nov. 30, 2022
Background
Jayvon Keitt, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a court process for challenging unlawful custody. The court's footnote explains that Keitt's submission was originally filed in his criminal case as a motion for compassionate release. The court construed that submission as a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, opened a new civil action, and assigned this docket number.
Fee requirement
The court stated that a person seeking to proceed with a habeas petition must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without prepaying court fees. Keitt had submitted neither.
The court ordered Keitt, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $5 filing fee or complete, sign, and submit the attached application. The application was to identify docket number 22-CV-9954. If the court grants the application, Keitt may proceed without prepaying fees. No answer from the United States was required at that time. The court stated that the action will be dismissed if Keitt fails to comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and disposition
Judge Vernon S. Broderick certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the merits of Keitt's petition.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.