Holmes v. Bentivegna
- Nelson Roman
- 7:23-cv-05462
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Holmes v. Bentivegna, Judge Swain ordered Holmes to pay fees or submit forms within 30 days or face dismissal.
Marvin Holmes, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, was required to pay the fees or submit the required fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization within 30 days. The defendants were not required to answer at that time.
What happened
Holmes v. Bentivegna concerns a civil case filed by Marvin Holmes, who is incarcerated and representing himself without a lawyer. The court said he submitted his complaint without paying the required fees or completing the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying upfront.
The court gave Holmes 30 days from June 28, 2023, to either pay $402 in fees or submit a signed application and authorization for payments to be deducted from his prison account. The court said no answer from the defendants was required at that time and warned that the action would be dismissed if Holmes did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order. She also found that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying appeal fees.
The detailed version
- Holmes v. Bentivegna · No. 7:23-cv-05462
- Nelson Roman
- June 28, 2023
Background
Marvin Holmes, who the opinion says is incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or the required prisoner authorization.
The Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner starting a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the prison facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months.
The court ordered Holmes, within 30 days of the order, to pay the $402 or submit the application and authorization labeled with docket number 23-CV-5462. The court stated that no answer from the defendants was required at that time. It said the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Holmes complied and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
Other Rulings
The court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not address the underlying claims in Holmes’s complaint.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.