Coward v. Jackson
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-07261
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 7
In Coward v. Jackson, Judge Swain ordered Anthony Coward to sign his complaint and pay fees or submit required forms within 30 days.
Anthony Coward, the incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must provide the signature and payment-or-application materials for the case to proceed; the order did not decide the claims against Sargent Jackson or the other defendants.
What happened
In Coward v. Jackson, Anthony Coward, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a complaint without a signature, filing fees, or the paperwork needed to ask to proceed without paying fees in advance.
The court gave Coward 30 days to submit an original signature page and either pay $402 or submit a completed fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization. The court said the action would be dismissed if he did not comply, and no answer was required at that time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed these steps but did not decide the claims. She also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Coward v. Jackson · No. 1:23-cv-07261
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 23, 2023
Background
Anthony Coward, who is incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer against Sargent Jackson and other defendants. The complaint was submitted without the required signature, filing fees, or a completed application to proceed without paying fees in advance and a prisoner authorization.
Court’s directions
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 the required application and authorization. If the court grants the application, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization permits the facility to deduct those payments and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
Within 30 days of the order, Coward was directed to do both of the following:
1. Submit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature; and 2. Either pay the $402 in fees or submit a completed application to proceed without paying fees in advance and a prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 23-CV-7261 (LTS).
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not decide the claims in the complaint. She stated that no answer was required at that time and that, if Coward complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed. 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.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.