Holliday v. Artist

Background

Dorian Holliday filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Holliday was incarcerated at Westchester County Department of Correction and was proceeding without a lawyer.

Fee and application requirements

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—$350 for the filing fee and $52 for the administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Holliday had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization directs the facility holding the prisoner to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prison account in installments and to provide certified account statements for the previous six months. The court also explained that the $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

Order

The court ordered Holliday, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 23-CV-2410 (LTS). No answer was required at that point. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Holliday complied, but that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the permitted time. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The attached forms warned that a dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a qualifying dismissal under the federal prisoner litigation statute, subject to the statute’s stated exception.