Culley v. Lee
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-09746
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Culley v. Lee, Chief Judge Swain ordered Devin Ray Culley to pay $402 or seek permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Devin Ray Culley, whose case could proceed only after he paid the required fees or submitted an IFP application; the order also stated that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within 30 days.
What happened
In Culley v. Lee, Devin Ray Culley filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them. The order does not address the substance of his claims.
The court gave Culley 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. If Culley did not comply, the action would be dismissed.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also determined that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying dispute.
The detailed version
- Culley v. Lee · No. 1:22-cv-09746
- Laura Swain
- Dec. 7, 2022
Background
Devin Ray Culley brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint but did not pay the required fees and did not submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees. The opinion does not describe the claims against Yaqi Lee.
Order
The court explained that filing a civil action required either payment of $402—$350 for the filing fee and $52 for the administrative fee—or submission of a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Within 30 days of the order, Culley had to pay the $402 or submit the attached IFP application. If he submitted the application, it had to identify docket number 22-CV-9746 (LTS). If the court granted the application, he would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed through the Clerk’s Office if Culley complied, and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order directed payment of the filing fees or submission of an IFP application; it did not reach the merits of the underlying dispute.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.