Hussey v. Gracie Square Hospital Psychologist David Rosen
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-04378
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Hussey v. Gracie Square Hospital, Judge Swain ordered the prisoner to pay fees or submit authorization before the case could proceed.
The order directly affects plaintiff Yessuh Suhyes Hussey, who must either pay the required fees or submit a prisoner authorization for the action to proceed. It does not decide the claims against the named defendants.
What happened
Hussey v. Gracie Square Hospital concerns a lawsuit filed by Yessuh Suhyes Hussey against Gracie Square Hospital and other defendants. Hussey asked to proceed without paying the filing fee upfront and had already submitted an application for that status.
The court determined that Hussey was a prisoner when the complaint was filed and therefore also needed to submit a signed prisoner authorization. That authorization would allow filing-fee payments to be deducted from his account in installments. The court gave him 30 days to pay $402 in fees or submit the authorization. No summons would issue at that time.
If Hussey did not comply within 30 days, the action would be dismissed. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
The detailed version
- Hussey v. Gracie Square Hospital Psychologist David Rosen · No. 1:23-cv-04378
- Laura Swain
- May 31, 2023
Background
Yessuh Suhyes Hussey filed this action without a lawyer and asked to proceed without prepaying the filing fees. He originally filed the action in the Eastern District of New York, where he submitted an application to proceed without prepaying fees. That court transferred the action to the Southern District of New York and left the fee application for this court to decide.
The court stated that Hussey was detained again and had been a prisoner when he filed the complaint. Under the federal prisoner-litigation fee rules, a prisoner seeking to proceed without prepaying fees must submit both a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits the facility holding the prisoner to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner's account in installments and to provide the court with certified account statements for the preceding six months. The separate $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Court’s Order
Hussey had submitted the fee application but not the prisoner authorization. The court directed him, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the full $402 in fees or to complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 23-CV-4378 (LTS). 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 he failed to comply within the permitted time, the action would be dismissed.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the claims against the defendants. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.