Bermudez v. Howard
- Philip Halpern
- 7:23-cv-10668
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Bermudez v. Howard, Judge Swain gave the petitioner 30 days to pay the fee or submit an inability-to-pay application, warning the case would be dismissed.
Jason Bermudez, the self-represented petitioner, must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit the required application within the additional 30-day period to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Bermudez v. Howard, Jason Bermudez filed a petition for a court order challenging his detention. The court had directed him to pay the $5 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without paying it, but it received only a request for his correctional facility to issue a check.
The court gave Bermudez an additional 30 days to pay the $5 fee or submit the application. It said no response from David Howard was required at that time, and that the case would move forward under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Bermudez complied.
Judge Swain warned that the action would be dismissed if Bermudez did not comply within the allowed time. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Bermudez v. Howard · No. 7:23-cv-10668
- Philip Halpern
- Jan. 23, 2024
Background
Jason Bermudez, representing himself, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. On December 14, 2023, the court ordered him to pay the $5 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepaying the fee, commonly called an in forma pauperis application. On January 8, 2024, the court received a letter saying that Bermudez was submitting the fee. The letter contained a disbursement request asking his correctional facility to issue a $5 check, but the court had not received the fee itself.
Order
The court granted Bermudez an additional 30 days to pay the $5 filing fee or submit the attached application. The court stated that David Howard did not have to answer the petition at that time. If Bermudez complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the merits of Bermudez’s habeas petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.