Copeland v. Warden

Background

Johnathan Copeland filed this civil action while incarcerated at Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island and representing himself. He submitted an incomplete application to proceed without prepaying court fees; the application was missing its second page and his signature.

Fee or application requirement

The court ordered Copeland, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the required $402 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee, or submit a completed application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an IFP application, along with a prisoner authorization.

The prisoner authorization would allow the court to direct the correctional facility to deduct the $350 filing fee from Copeland’s account in installments and provide the court with certified account statements for the preceding six months. The court explained that the $52 administrative fee does not apply to a prisoner who is granted IFP status. Any submitted application had to identify docket number 23-CV-8495 (LTS).

Ruling and effect

The court ordered Copeland to pay the fees or submit the required materials. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that, if Copeland complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures; if he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.

Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal of a prisoner’s action as frivolous or for failure to state a claim could count as a statutory “strike,” but this order did not decide the merits of Copeland’s claims.