Mourning v. Wray
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-05109
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Mourning v. Wray, Judge Swain ordered the incarcerated plaintiff to pay $402 or submit a prisoner authorization within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Jeffery Lee Mourning, who was required to pay the fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action; the underlying defendants were not affected by a merits ruling.
What happened
In Mourning v. Wray, Jeffery Lee Mourning filed a civil action while incarcerated and asked to proceed without prepaying court fees. He submitted an application for that status but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court gave Mourning 30 days to either pay $402 in fees or submit the signed authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account. The court also stated that no summons would issue at that time and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied fee-free status for any appeal from the order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the underlying claims against Christopher Wray or the other defendants.
The detailed version
- Mourning v. Wray · No. 1:23-cv-05109
- Laura Swain
- June 22, 2023
Background
Jeffery Lee Mourning, who was incarcerated at Central San Diego Jail, brought this action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Court’s Requirements
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay the required fees or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting both an application and a prisoner authorization. The order stated that the total amount to pay was $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. If the court grants permission to proceed without prepayment, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to provide certified account statements for the previous six months and deduct the required payments.
Within 30 days of the order, Mourning had to either pay the $402 or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 23-CV-5109 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that, if Mourning complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the merits of Mourning’s claims against Christopher Wray or the other defendants.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.