Suarez v. New York County District Attorney's Office
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:22-cv-10855
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Suarez v. New York County District Attorney’s Office, Judge Swain ordered payment or an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Annabelle Suarez, who was required to pay the case fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying them before the action could proceed.
What happened
Suarez v. New York County District Attorney’s Office is a case brought by Annabelle Suarez without a lawyer. The court said she had not paid the required fees or submitted an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Suarez 30 days to pay $402 or submit a signed application. No summons would issue at that time, and the case would be processed if she complied. If she did not comply, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Suarez v. New York County District Attorney's Office · No. 1:22-cv-10855
- Paul Gardephe
- Dec. 27, 2022
Background
Annabelle Suarez brought this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that she submitted a complaint but did not pay the required filing and administrative fees and did not submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees. The defendants are identified in the caption as the New York County District Attorney’s Office and others.
Order
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees. Within 30 days after the order, Suarez was required to do one of those two things. If she submitted the application, it had to identify docket number 22-CV-10855 (LTS). The court stated that, if it granted the application, Suarez could proceed without prepaying fees.
The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. It stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Suarez complied, but that the action would be dismissed if she did not comply within the allowed time. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
Appeal-related ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order was signed by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.