Evans v. Santa
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-02511
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Evans v. Santa, Judge Swain ordered James Earl Evans, Sr. to pay $402 or submit forms to proceed without upfront fees within 30 days.
James Earl Evans, Sr., an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the required forms within 30 days to continue the action.
What happened
James Earl Evans, Sr. filed Evans v. Santa, et al., without a lawyer while incarcerated at Mohawk Correctional Facility. He submitted his complaint without paying the required fees or completing the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court ordered Evans to do one of two things within 30 days: pay $402 in filing and administrative fees, or submit a signed application and authorization allowing installments to be deducted from his prison account. No answer from the defendants was required at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed if Evans complied and would be dismissed if he did not.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without upfront appeal fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Evans v. Santa · No. 1:23-cv-02511
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 27, 2023
Background
James Earl Evans, Sr. filed this civil action without a lawyer while incarcerated at Mohawk Correctional Facility. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Payment and fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit the required application and authorization to proceed without prepaying fees. If the court grants that application, the $350 filing fee must still be paid in installments deducted from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to provide certified account statements for the previous six months and make the required deductions.
Ruling
The court ordered Evans, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $402 in fees or to submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 23-CV-2511 (LTS). The court stated that no answer was required at that time. If Evans complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the permitted time, the action would be dismissed.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not address the merits of Evans’s underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.