Hussey v. Nurse Luboa
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-04371
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Hussey v. Nurse Luboa, Judge Swain ordered the prisoner to pay fees or submit authorization before the case could proceed.
Yessuh Suhyes Hussey must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action. Nurse Luboa and Dr. Schneider were not affected by a ruling on the merits.
What happened
In Hussey v. Nurse Luboa, Yessuh Suhyes Hussey sued Nurse Luboa and Dr. Schneider and asked to proceed without paying court fees upfront. The court noted that Hussey was detained when he filed the case and had since returned to custody, but had not submitted the required prisoner authorization.
The court gave Hussey 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed authorization allowing installment deductions from his account. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action would be dismissed if Hussey did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not address the underlying claims against the defendants.
The detailed version
- Hussey v. Nurse Luboa · No. 1:23-cv-04371
- Laura Swain
- May 31, 2023
Background
Yessuh Suhyes Hussey brought this civil action against Nurse Luboa and Dr. Schneider without a lawyer. Hussey requested permission to proceed without paying court fees in advance. The case was originally filed in the Eastern District of New York and was later transferred to the Southern District of New York. The opinion states that Hussey was detained when the complaint was filed, was later released, and was again in the custody of the New York City Department of Correction when this order was issued.
Required filing
The court explained that a detained prisoner seeking to proceed without prepaying fees must submit both an application to proceed without prepayment and a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits the facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner's account in installments and requires certified account statements for the previous six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a prisoner granted permission to proceed without prepayment.
Hussey had submitted the application but not the prisoner authorization. The court ordered Hussey, within 30 days, to either pay the full $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 23-CV-4371 (LTS).
Ruling and effect
The court directed Hussey to provide the missing authorization or pay the fees. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that, if Hussey complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if Hussey failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed. The court also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees on any appeal from this order, certifying that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
This was a procedural order about fees and required filings. Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not decide the merits of Hussey's claims against Nurse Luboa or Dr. Schneider.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.