Hussey v. Beth Israel Medical Center
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-04376
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Hussey v. Beth Israel Medical Center, Chief Judge Swain ordered a detained plaintiff to pay fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
The plaintiff, who must either pay the stated fees or submit the required prisoner authorization for the action to proceed; the order does not resolve the claims against the defendants.
What happened
Hussey v. Beth Israel Medical Center is a civil action brought by a detained plaintiff without a lawyer against Beth Israel Medical Center and other listed defendants. The plaintiff asked to proceed without paying the filing fee in advance. He originally filed the case in another federal court, was released from custody, and was later detained again.
The court explained that a prisoner seeking to proceed without prepaying fees must submit both an application and a signed authorization. The authorization allows deductions from the prisoner’s account to pay the filing fee in installments and requires account statements for the previous six months. The plaintiff submitted the application but not the authorization.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the plaintiff, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. No summons will issue at this time, and the action will be dismissed if he does not comply. The court also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal, finding that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Hussey v. Beth Israel Medical Center · No. 1:23-cv-04376
- Laura Swain
- May 31, 2023
Background
The plaintiff filed this civil action without a lawyer and requested permission to proceed without prepaying filing fees, commonly called proceeding in forma pauperis or “IFP.” He originally filed the action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. That court later transferred the action to the Southern District of New York and reserved the IFP decision for the receiving court.
The opinion states that the plaintiff was detained when he filed the complaint, was later released from custody, and was again in the custody of the New York City Department of Correction when this order was issued. Because he was a prisoner when he filed the complaint, the court required a prisoner authorization in addition to the IFP application.
Filing requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed IFP application and a prisoner authorization. The $402 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. If IFP status is granted, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to provide certified account statements for the preceding six months.
The plaintiff submitted an IFP application but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Order
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the plaintiff to do one of two things within 30 days of the order: pay the $402 in fees, or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 23-CV-4376 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If the plaintiff complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
The court also 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 did not decide the merits of the claims against the defendants.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.