Mikanda v. McNeely
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-08169
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Mikanda v. McNeely, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Neyembo Mikanda to pay $402 or submit a fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Neyembo Mikanda must pay the required fees or submit a signed IFP application within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Mikanda v. McNeely, Neyembo Mikanda brought a case without a lawyer but did not submit the required filing fees or an application to proceed without paying them upfront. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
The court ordered Mikanda, within 30 days, to either pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees. No summons will be issued at this time, and the case will be processed if Mikanda complies; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Mikanda v. McNeely · No. 1:23-cv-08169
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 10, 2023
Background
Neyembo Mikanda filed this action pro se, meaning without a lawyer, against Chief of Police Antje McNeely. The opinion does not describe the claims or the underlying dispute. Mikanda submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), which means proceeding without prepaying court fees.
Order
The court stated that a civil-action plaintiff must either pay $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed IFP application. The court gave Mikanda 30 days from October 10, 2023, to pay the fees or submit the attached IFP application labeled with docket number 23-CV-8169 (LTS).
If the court grants the IFP application, Mikanda may proceed without prepaying the fees. No summons shall issue at this time. If Mikanda complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures; if Mikanda does not comply within the permitted time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal and Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order directs payment of the fee or submission of an IFP application; it does not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.