Hay v. Bolonik
- James Oetken
- 1:23-cv-08584
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Hay v. Bolonik, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Bruce Hay to pay $402 or submit an application to proceed without upfront fees within 30 days.
Bruce Hay, who must either pay the required filing fees or submit an IFP application within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Hay v. Bolonik, Bruce Hay filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without paying them upfront. The opinion states that he is representing himself.
The court ordered Hay to pay $402 or submit a signed application to proceed without upfront fees within 30 days. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if he complies; otherwise, the action will be dismissed. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on October 26, 2023. The order does not decide the underlying claims against Kera Bolonik.
The detailed version
- Hay v. Bolonik · No. 1:23-cv-08584
- James Oetken
- Oct. 26, 2023
Background
Bruce Hay filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint by email but did not pay the required filing fees or submit an application to proceed without paying fees upfront.
Order
The court explained that filing a civil action requires either payment of $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or a signed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying the fees. The court directed Hay, within 30 days of the order, to do one of those two things. If he submits the application and the court grants it, he may proceed without prepaying the fees.
No summons will issue at this time. If Hay complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Disposition and Significance
This is a procedural order about payment of filing fees or an IFP application; it does not decide the merits of Hay’s claims against Kera Bolonik. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.