Casby v. Jackson
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-11295
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Casby v. Jackson, Judge Swain ordered the incarcerated plaintiff to pay fees or submit forms before the case could proceed.
Cyrus Casby and the processing of his civil action; the underlying claims were not decided, and no summonses had yet been issued.
What happened
In Casby v. Jackson, Cyrus Casby, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the paperwork needed to ask to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court gave Casby 30 days to either pay $405 or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow the filing fee to be collected from his prison account in installments. The court ordered that no summonses be issued yet.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the case would be processed if Casby complied, but that it would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time. She also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees for this order.
The detailed version
- Casby v. Jackson · No. 1:23-cv-11295
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 8, 2024
Background
Cyrus Casby, also identified as Original Mann, filed this civil action while incarcerated at USP Atwater and without a lawyer. He did not pay the filing fees and did not submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit the required paperwork to request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If the court grants that request, the $350 filing fee must still be collected from the prisoner’s account in installments under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The prisoner authorization directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and to provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Casby, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the completed fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 23-CV-11295. No summonses would be issued at that time. The court stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Casby complied, but that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the permitted time.
Other Ruling and Effect
The court certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order on January 8, 2024.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.