Cohen v. United States of America
- Nelson Roman
- 7:23-cv-08099
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Cohen v. United States of America, Judge Swain ordered payment or fee-waiver forms within 30 days.
Jeffrey Cohen, who must either pay the required fees or submit the specified fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Cohen v. United States of America, Jeffrey Cohen filed a civil case without paying the required fees or submitting completed forms to proceed without paying them upfront. The opinion says he is incarcerated and representing himself.
The court gave Cohen 30 days to pay $402 or submit a completed fee-waiver application and authorization allowing installment deductions from his prison account. The court said no summons would issue yet and that the action will be dismissed if he does not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from this order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. This order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Cohen v. United States of America · No. 7:23-cv-08099
- Nelson Roman
- Sept. 22, 2023
Background
Jeffrey Cohen filed this civil action without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Cohen is incarcerated at F.C.I. Otisville and is representing himself. The caption also names additional defendants as “et al.”
Court’s Order
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 filing a signed application and prisoner authorization. If that permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The authorization also permits collection of account information and payment deductions.
The court ordered Cohen, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the required application and prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 23-CV-8099 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Cohen complied and would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed period.
Appeal and Effect
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order addressed filing requirements and did not reach the merits of Cohen’s underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.