Wright v. Annucci

Background

Deshard Wright filed a civil action while incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and was representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

The court’s order

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

The court ordered Wright, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 in fees or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 23-CV-6910 (LTS). No summons would be issued at that time. The court stated that, if Wright complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.

Disposition

Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed Wright to pay the fees or submit the required forms. The order did not decide the underlying claims in the complaint. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion does not state that the action had already been dismissed.