Alli v. Lue
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:23-cv-05263
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Alli v. Lue, Judge Swain directed prisoner Umar Alli to pay fees or submit authorization before the case could proceed.
Umar Alli's federal civil action was affected: he must pay the stated fees or submit the required prisoner authorization within 30 days for the case to proceed, or the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Alli v. Lue, Umar Alli, who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Alli, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in fees or submit the authorization allowing installment payments from his prison account. No summons would issue at that time, and the case would be processed if he complied; otherwise, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Alli v. Lue · No. 1:23-cv-05263
- Paul Gardephe
- June 22, 2023
Background
Umar Alli, who is incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer, brought this action against Captain Lue and other defendants. Alli submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Required Filing or Payment
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay the applicable fees or submit both an application to proceed without prepayment and a prisoner authorization. The authorization allows the prison facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from the prisoner's account in installments and requires certified copies of the prisoner's account statements for the previous six months. The court stated that the total amount due to file the action was $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. The administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court gave Alli 30 days from the date of the order to either pay the $402 or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 23-CV-5263 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. If Alli complied, the Clerk's Office would process the case under its procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Other Warnings
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 also warned that certain dismissals of prisoner actions can count as "strikes" under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which can limit a prisoner's ability to file future federal civil actions without paying fees upfront.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed Alli to pay the fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days. The order did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.