Robinson v. People
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-00829
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Robinson v. People, Chief Judge Swain ordered Stephen Robinson to pay the $5 filing fee or submit a fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Stephen Robinson, who must either pay the $5.00 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action. The People were not required to answer at that time.
What happened
In Robinson v. People, Stephen Robinson filed a habeas petition without paying the $5 filing fee or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees. The opinion states that he is representing himself.
The court ordered Robinson, within 30 days, either to pay the filing fee or submit a signed application showing that he cannot pay. No response from the People was required at that time. If Robinson did not comply within the deadline, the action would be dismissed; if he submitted the application and it was granted, he could proceed without paying the fee in advance.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal. The court did not decide the substance of Robinson’s habeas petition.
The detailed version
- Robinson v. People · No. 1:23-cv-00829
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 15, 2023
Background
Stephen Robinson filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and was proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the petition without the required $5.00 filing fee and without an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Order
The court ordered Robinson to take one of two steps within 30 days of the order’s date: pay the $5.00 filing fee, or complete and submit the attached signed IFP application. If the court granted the application, Robinson would be allowed to proceed without paying the fees in advance. The application was to identify docket number 23-CV-829 (LTS).
The court stated that no answer from the People was required at that time. If Robinson complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Scope of Ruling
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 permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain’s order addressed the filing fee and fee-waiver requirements; it did not decide the merits of Robinson’s habeas petition.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.