Shiplane Transport, Inc. v. HWY 31 Exchange Inc.
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:23-cv-10073
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
Kennedy v. HWY 31 Exchange: Judge Swain ordered payment or an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Peter Francis Kennedy must either pay $402 or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. The defendants are affected because summonses will not issue unless Kennedy complies and the action proceeds.
What happened
In Peter Francis Kennedy v. HWY 31 Exchange Inc., Peter Francis Kennedy brought the action without a lawyer. The court said the action began without the required filing and administrative fees or an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court gave Kennedy 30 days to pay $402 or complete, sign, and submit the provided application. No summonses will issue for now, and the action will be processed if he complies; the court said the action will be dismissed if he does not.
Chief 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
- Shiplane Transport, Inc. v. HWY 31 Exchange Inc. · No. 1:23-cv-10073
- Valerie Caproni
- Dec. 1, 2023
Background
Peter Francis Kennedy, the only plaintiff named in the second amended complaint, brought the action without a lawyer against HWY 31 Exchange Inc., Mark Anthony Hafner, and Tania Renee Oropesa. The court identified the second amended complaint as the operative pleading, meaning it was the current pleading governing the action.
A plaintiff proceeding in federal court must either pay the filing and administrative fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court stated that the total required fees were $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. Kennedy had submitted neither payment nor an application when the action began.
Order
The court ordered Kennedy, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $402 in fees or to complete, sign, and submit the attached application. If the court grants the application, Kennedy may proceed without paying the fees in advance. The application was to identify docket number 1:23-CV-10073 (LTS).
The court directed that no summonses issue at that time. It stated that, if Kennedy complied, the action would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Disposition
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. This order addressed filing-fee requirements and did not decide the merits of Kennedy’s underlying claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.