Scott v. Annucci
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:23-cv-06911
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Scott v. Annucci, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Clayton Scott to submit an original signature and fees or an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Clayton Scott and the processing of his civil action; the order requires him to provide the missing signature and either pay the required fees or submit the required prisoner forms.
What happened
In Scott v. Annucci, Clayton Scott filed a civil action without paying the required fees, submitting the required application and authorization to proceed without prepaying fees, or signing the complaint. He is incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and is representing himself.
The court gave Scott 30 days to either pay $402 or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his account. The court also ordered him to submit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature. No summons would be issued yet.
If Scott does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed; if he complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied the ability to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal from this order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Scott v. Annucci · No. 7:23-cv-06911
- Cathy Seibel
- Aug. 8, 2023
Background
Clayton Scott, who is incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer, filed this action against Anthony Annucci, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Joseph Sergeant, and two defendants identified as John Doe. Scott submitted the complaint without paying the required fees, without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, and without a prisoner authorization. He also submitted the complaint without his signature.
Fees and authorization
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The court directed Scott, within 30 days of the order, to choose one of those options and to label any submitted forms with docket number 23-CV-6911 (LTS).
Signature requirement and disposition
The court also directed Scott to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. No summons would be issued at that time. If Scott complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case; if he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed. Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for such an appeal. The order also cautioned that qualifying dismissals can count as strikes under the federal prisoner-litigation statute.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.