Mikanda v. Trump
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-08359
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Mikanda v. Trump, Judge Swain denied requests to withdraw a filing-fee order and denied a fee waiver for any appeal.
Neyembo Mikanda, the self-represented plaintiff, remains subject to the order requiring payment of $402 in fees or submission of an application to proceed without paying them; fee-waiver status was also denied for an appeal from this order.
What happened
In Mikanda v. Trump, the court had ordered Neyembo Mikanda, who was representing themself, to pay $402 in fees or apply to proceed without paying those fees.
Mikanda filed three submissions that appeared to ask the court to withdraw its earlier order. The submissions were filed on October 5, 2023.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied those requests and left the September 21, 2023 order in effect. She also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Mikanda v. Trump · No. 1:23-cv-08359
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 17, 2023
Background
Neyembo Mikanda appeared without a lawyer. On September 21, 2023, the court ordered Mikanda, within 30 days, either to pay the $402 fees required to bring the civil action or to submit an application to proceed without paying those fees. That type of application is commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis, or IFP.
Mikanda’s Requests
On October 5, 2023, Mikanda filed three submissions. The court stated that Mikanda seemed to be asking it to withdraw the September 21 order.
Ruling
The court denied those requests. The September 21 order therefore remained in effect. The court also 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 did not address the underlying merits of the civil action.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.