Morrow v. Janis
- Nelson Roman
- 7:23-cv-03224
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Morrow v. Janis, Judge Swain ordered prisoner Neb Morrow to pay fees or submit authorization within 30 days.
Neb Morrow, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Morrow v. Janis, Neb Morrow, who is incarcerated, filed the case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying fees upfront. He submitted the required application but not the separate authorization allowing installment payments from his prison account.
The order gives Morrow 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit the completed prisoner authorization. No summons will issue yet. If he does not comply, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, stating that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Morrow v. Janis · No. 7:23-cv-03224
- Nelson Roman
- Apr. 20, 2023
Background
Neb Morrow, who is incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court’s order
The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $402 in fees or request permission to proceed without prepayment. The $402 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee, although the administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment. Even if that permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account.
Within 30 days of the order, Morrow must either pay the $402 or complete and submit the prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 23-CV-3224 (LTS). The authorization would direct the correctional facility to deduct the filing fee in installments and send the court certified account statements covering the previous six months.
No summons will issue at this time. If Morrow complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The order itself does not dismiss the action.
Appeal ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also cautioned that certain dismissals of prisoner cases can count as strikes under federal law.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.