Barzee v. Abdulla
- Philip Halpern
- 7:23-cv-02328
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Barzee v. Abdulla, Judge Swain ordered prisoner Saio Barzee to pay fees or submit authorization within 30 days, warning of dismissal for noncompliance.
Saio Barzee, the incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer; the case will not proceed unless he pays the fees or submits the required prisoner authorization.
What happened
In Barzee v. Abdulla, Saio Barzee filed a civil action while incarcerated and asked to proceed without paying the fees upfront. He submitted the required application but not the separate authorization needed for deductions from his prison account.
The court ordered Barzee, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or submit the completed prisoner authorization. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if he complies. The order says the action will be dismissed if he does not comply within the deadline.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order, finding that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
The detailed version
- Barzee v. Abdulla · No. 7:23-cv-02328
- Philip Halpern
- Mar. 24, 2023
Background
Saio Barzee, who was incarcerated at Lakeview Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning to proceed without paying court fees upfront. He did not submit the separate prisoner authorization required by federal law.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed IFP application and a prisoner authorization. Although the administrative fee does not apply to a person granted IFP status, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
The court ordered Barzee, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. The authorization must direct the facility holding him to deduct the $350 filing fee in installments and provide certified account statements for the previous six months. It must identify docket number 23-CV-2328 (LTS).
Effect of the Order
No summons will issue at this time. If Barzee complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the permitted time, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not address the merits of Barzee’s claims against the defendants.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.