Jacobs v. United States
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-02975
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Jacobs v. United States, Judge Swain ordered Brandon Michael Jacobs to pay $402 or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days.
Brandon Michael Jacobs, who must either pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
Brandon Michael Jacobs brought Jacobs v. United States without a lawyer, but he submitted neither the required filing fees nor an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court gave him 30 days to pay $402, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee, or submit a signed application. No summons will issue yet. If the application is granted, he may proceed without paying the fees in advance.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered these steps and said the action will be dismissed if Jacobs does not comply. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying appeal fees.
The detailed version
- Jacobs v. United States · No. 1:23-cv-02975
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 18, 2023
Background
Brandon Michael Jacobs filed this civil action against the United States of America without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
The Court’s Order
The court explained that starting a civil action in the Southern District of New York requires payment of $402: a $350 filing fee plus a $52 administrative fee. Alternatively, a plaintiff may request permission under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 to proceed without paying those fees in advance by submitting a signed application.
The court ordered Jacobs, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the attached IFP application labeled with docket number 23-CV-2975 (LTS). If the court grants the application, Jacobs will be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees. No summons will issue at this time, and the case will be processed by the Clerk’s Office if Jacobs complies. The order states that the action will be dismissed if he does not comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order does not decide the merits of Jacobs’s claims against the United States.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.