Walters v. City of New York
- Analisa Torres
- 1:23-cv-07782
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Walters v. City of New York, Chief Judge Swain ordered Sheron Walters to pay fees or seek permission to proceed without prepayment and file an original signature.
Sheron Walters, the unrepresented plaintiff, must comply with the fee-or-prisoner-authorization requirement and submit an original signature page within 30 days.
What happened
Sheron Walters filed a new, unrepresented lawsuit against the City of New York while detained at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island. The order says Walters was attempting to refile claims from an earlier related proceeding, which had been dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute and failure to follow court orders.
Because Walters did not pay the required fees or submit a completed prisoner authorization, the court ordered Walters, within 30 days, either to pay $402 or submit the authorization needed to request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. The court also ordered Walters to submit an original signature page because the complaint was unsigned.
The order was signed by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Walters v. City of New York · No. 1:23-cv-07782
- Analisa Torres
- Sept. 5, 2023
Background
Sheron Walters filed this new civil action without a lawyer while detained at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island. Walters stated that the new action was intended to refile claims asserted in an earlier related proceeding. The earlier proceeding had been dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute and failure to comply with multiple court orders. The earlier court later denied reconsideration and stated that the dismissal did not bar refiling timely claims in compliance with court rules and orders.
Filing fees and prisoner authorization
Walters submitted the complaint without paying the required $402 in fees and without completing a prisoner authorization. The $402 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. The court ordered Walters, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $402 or submit the attached prisoner authorization. If Walters seeks permission to proceed without prepaying fees, the authorization would allow deductions of the $350 filing fee from the prison account in installments and require certified account statements for the previous six months. The order notes that the $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Signature requirement
Walters also submitted the complaint without a signature. Under Rule 11(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the local rule cited by the court, an unrepresented party must personally sign the filing. The court ordered Walters to submit an original, handwritten or otherwise personally placed signature on the attached signature page within 30 days.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed Walters to complete one of the fee-related requirements and to submit an original signature page within 30 days. The court certified 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 decide the merits of Walters's underlying claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.