Izeh v. Ross

Background

Izeh A. Matthew submitted a complaint with a prisoner authorization but did not submit a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees, commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis. The court previously ordered him to either pay the $402 filing fee or submit that application within 30 days.

The court first mailed the order to the facility where Izeh had been held, but the mail was returned with a notation that he was no longer in custody there. The court then mailed the order using information listed in the New York City Department of Correction’s inmate lookup service, but that mailing was also returned with a notation that Izeh had been discharged. The court noted that Izeh had provided a Bronx address in other pending cases and had used that address in a later case. It mailed the order to that address as well.

Ruling

Because Izeh did not submit the required application, pay the filing fee, or otherwise contact the court in connection with this action, Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The conclusion states that the complaint was filed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), although the order also states that no completed application had been submitted.

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. The clerk was directed to enter judgment.