899 S. 19th LLC v. Kennedy
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:23-cv-01677
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In 899 S. 19th LLC v. Kennedy, Judge Swain ordered Kennedy to pay filing fees or apply to proceed without prepayment.
Defendant Melvene Kennedy, who must either pay the required $402 in fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; the underlying case remains subject to further processing if she complies.
What happened
In 899 S. 19th LLC v. Kennedy, Defendant Melvene Kennedy filed a notice seeking to move the case to federal court without a lawyer. She did not submit the required filing fees or an application to proceed without paying them in advance.
The court gave Kennedy 30 days from March 1, 2023, to pay $402 or submit a signed application showing that she could not pay. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action would be dismissed if she did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying dispute between 899 S. 19th LLC and Kennedy.
The detailed version
- 899 S. 19th LLC v. Kennedy · No. 1:23-cv-01677
- Lorna Schofield
- Mar. 1, 2023
Background
Defendant Melvene Kennedy filed a notice of removal without a lawyer. The opinion does not describe the underlying dispute or explain what state-court claims Kennedy sought to move to federal court.
Fees or application to proceed without prepayment
The court explained that a party initiating a civil case in the district court must either pay $402 in fees—$350 for filing and $52 for administration—or submit a signed application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without paying fees in advance. Kennedy submitted neither the fees nor the application with her notice of removal.
The court ordered Kennedy, within 30 days of March 1, 2023, to pay the $402 or submit the attached application. If the court grants the application, Kennedy may proceed without prepaying the fees. The court directed that no summons issue at that time and stated that the case would be processed by the Clerk’s Office if Kennedy complied. If she failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3), the court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not rule on the merits of the underlying dispute.
Disposition
The court entered an order directing payment of fees or submission of an application to proceed without prepayment. 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.