Timmons v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-01546
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Timmons v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Timmons neither paid fees nor submitted required forms.
Richard Timmons's complaint was dismissed without prejudice because he did not submit the required fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization or pay the $402 filing fee. The court also denied him permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.
What happened
In Timmons v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the court had ordered Richard Timmons to submit a fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization or pay the $402 filing fee within 30 days. The order warned that failing to do so would lead to dismissal.
Timmons did not submit the required forms or pay the filing fee. The court therefore dismissed his complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling. The opinion did not address the underlying claims.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Timmons permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. The clerk was directed to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Timmons v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision · No. 1:23-cv-01546
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 11, 2023
Background
By an order dated March 2, 2023, the court directed Richard Timmons to submit, within 30 days, a completed application to proceed without paying filing fees, called an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), and a prisoner authorization. Alternatively, he could pay the $402 in filing fees required to begin a civil action.
Ruling
The March 2 order warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal. The court found that Timmons had neither submitted the IFP application and prisoner authorization nor paid the required fees. It therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The dismissal was based on the filing requirements; the opinion did not decide the underlying claims.
Appeal and judgment
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 IFP status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the clerk to enter judgment in the action.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.