Vann v. Wolfe-Friedman
- Nelson Roman
- 7:23-cv-00236
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Vann v. Wolfe-Friedman, Judge Swain ordered the incarcerated plaintiff to pay fees or submit authorization within 30 days.
Kouriockein Vann and the processing of his prisoner civil action; the order requires him to pay the fees or submit the authorization before the case proceeds.
What happened
In Vann v. Wolfe-Friedman, Kouriockein Vann filed a civil case without a lawyer and submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront. He did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Vann, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or submit the authorization allowing installment deductions from his prison account. No summons will issue yet; if he complies, the case will be processed, but if he does not, the action will be dismissed.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on January 13, 2023, and denied permission to appeal without paying fees because an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Vann v. Wolfe-Friedman · No. 7:23-cv-00236
- Nelson Roman
- Jan. 13, 2023
Background
Kouriockein Vann, who was incarcerated at Sullivan Correctional Facility, brought the action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting the required forms. Even if permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must be paid in installments deducted from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and requires submission of certified account statements for the previous six months.
Within 30 days of the order, Vann was required either to pay the $402 in fees or submit the attached prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 23-CV-236 (LTS). No summons was to issue at that time. If Vann complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Additional Warning
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 order also warned that certain dismissals of prisoner cases count as “strikes” under federal law, and that a prisoner with three strikes generally cannot proceed without prepaying fees unless an exception for imminent serious physical injury applies.
Judge
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.