Smickle v. Superintendent, Shawangunk Correctional Facility
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-01634
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Smickle v. Superintendent, Chief Judge Swain ordered payment or an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Randel Smickle must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. The habeas case will be dismissed if he does not comply. The respondent is not required to answer at this time.
What happened
In Smickle v. Superintendent, Randel Smickle filed a petition asking for habeas-corpus relief and was proceeding without a lawyer. The court received the petition without the required filing fee or an application to avoid prepaying it.
The court gave Smickle 30 days to pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application showing that he could not pay. The court said no response from the respondent was required yet, and warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal of the action.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an 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 habeas petition's underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Smickle v. Superintendent, Shawangunk Correctional Facility · No. 1:23-cv-01634
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 28, 2023
Background
Randel Smickle filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The opinion states that he was proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted the petition without paying the required $5 filing fee and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Court’s Order
The court ordered Smickle, within 30 days of February 28, 2023, to do one of two things: pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit the provided application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court explained that, if the application were granted, Smickle could proceed without paying the fee in advance. The court also instructed him to identify the case number, 23-CV-1634 (LTS), on the application.
The court stated that the respondent did not have to file an answer at that time. If Smickle complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal-Fee Ruling
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the merits of Smickle’s habeas petition.
Disposition
The court entered an order directing payment of the filing fee or submission of an application to proceed without prepaying fees. It did not dismiss the action in this order.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.