Alli v. Worrell
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:23-cv-05239
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Alli v. Worrell, Judge Swain ordered Umar Alli to pay fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
Umar Alli and the status of his civil action; if he submits the authorization, installment payments may be deducted from his prison account.
What happened
Alli v. Worrell involves Umar Alli, who is incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility and is representing himself. He submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees or provide a signed authorization allowing installment payments from the prison account toward the $350 filing fee. The authorization must also allow the facility to send the court certified account statements for the previous six months.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Alli, within 30 days, to pay the fees or submit the authorization. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if he complies; if he does not, the action will be dismissed. The court also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Alli v. Worrell · No. 1:23-cv-05239
- Paul Gardephe
- June 22, 2023
Background
Umar Alli, who is incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without paying court fees before the case begins. He did not submit the required prisoner authorization. The opinion does not state what claims Alli brings or describe the defendants’ alleged conduct.
Legal and procedural requirements
The court explained that a prisoner seeking to proceed without prepaying fees must submit both an application and a prisoner authorization under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. The authorization directs the agency holding the prisoner to provide certified copies of the prisoner’s account statements for the previous six months and to deduct installments from the account toward the $350 filing fee.
The total amount listed for someone paying fees at filing is $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. The court noted that the administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees, but the $350 filing fee remains payable in installments even if the case is dismissed or voluntarily withdrawn.
Order
The court ordered Alli, within 30 days of June 22, 2023, either to pay the $402 in fees or to complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. The authorization was to identify docket number 23-CV-5239. No summons was to issue at that time. If Alli complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for that appeal. The order warned that dismissals based on frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim can count as strikes under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), although this order itself did not dismiss the action.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.