Cannon v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-00837
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Cannon v. New York State Department of Corrections, Judge Swain ordered Cannon to pay fees or submit paperwork to proceed without prepayment.
Joseph Sherod Cannon, who must either pay the required fees or submit the specified paperwork within 30 days for the action to proceed. The defendants were not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
In Cannon v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Joseph Sherod Cannon filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the required forms. The order says Cannon is incarcerated at Great Meadow Correctional Facility and is representing himself.
The court gave Cannon 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If he does not comply within that time, the action will be dismissed. The defendants were not required to answer at that point.
Judge Laura Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the claims’ underlying merits.
The detailed version
- Cannon v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision · No. 1:23-cv-00837
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 3, 2023
Background
Joseph Sherod Cannon filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without paying the fees in advance. The order states that Cannon is incarcerated at Great Meadow Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer.
Fees and required paperwork
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed IFP application and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants IFP status, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization permits the correctional facility to make those deductions and requires certified account statements for the prior six months to be sent to the court.
Order
Within 30 days of the order, Cannon must either pay the $402 in fees or submit the IFP application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 23-CV-837 (LTS). No answer from the defendants was required at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Cannon complied, and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed period.
Appeal and effect
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. This order addressed filing fees and required paperwork; it did not decide the merits of Cannon’s claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.