Mikanda v. Trump
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-08359
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Mikanda v. Trump, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Neyembo Mikanda to pay $402 or apply to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days.
Neyembo Mikanda, CHSC, must either pay the $402 in fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Mikanda v. Trump, Neyembo Mikanda, CHSC, submitted a complaint without paying the required fees or providing an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court ordered Mikanda to pay $402 or submit the application within 30 days. The court said no summons would issue then and that the action would be dismissed if Mikanda did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Mikanda v. Trump · No. 1:23-cv-08359
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 21, 2023
Background
Neyembo Mikanda, CHSC, brought this action without a lawyer against Donald J. Trump. Mikanda submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Court’s Order
The court explained that starting a civil action required payment of $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. Alternatively, Mikanda could submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application. The court ordered Mikanda, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the IFP application. If the court grants the application, Mikanda may proceed without prepaying the fees.
No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Mikanda complied, but that the action would be dismissed if Mikanda failed to comply within the allowed time.
Appeal-Fee Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not address the merits of Mikanda’s claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.