Lax v. DOC Rikers Island Rose M. Singer Center and Staff

Background

The court had previously ordered that each plaintiff who wanted to proceed without paying the filing and administrative fees had to submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying those fees. In a case with multiple plaintiffs, each plaintiff had to submit a separate application addressing her own finances. The court also required Dominique Lax, whom the opinion identifies as a prisoner when the action was filed, to submit a prisoner authorization.

The original application was signed by both Dominique Lax and Crystal Lax but appeared to contain financial information only for Dominique Lax. The court notified Crystal Lax that she could not proceed as a plaintiff unless she submitted her own application within 30 days. Crystal Lax did not submit one. Dominique Lax submitted an application and prisoner authorization, and the court granted her request to proceed without prepaying fees on March 29, 2023.

Rulings

The court dismissed Crystal Lax’s claims, if any, without prejudice for failing to comply with the earlier order. “Without prejudice” means the opinion did not bar refiling those claims on that basis.

The court did not dismiss Dominique Lax’s claims in this order. Because public records indicated that Dominique Lax had been released from the Rose M. Singer Center, the court directed her to notify the court in writing within 30 days of any change in her mailing address and whether she still intended to prosecute the action.

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.