In re: Jesus Torres
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:24-cv-00411
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In re: Jesus Torres: Judge Swain ordered payment of fees or completed forms within 30 days, warning that noncompliance will lead to dismissal.
Jesus Torres, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit the specified forms within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In re: Jesus Torres concerns an incarcerated plaintiff who filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting completed forms to request permission to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court gave Jesus Torres 30 days to either pay $405 or submit a completed application and authorization allowing installment payments from his prison account. The court said the action will be dismissed if he does not comply, and no answer is required yet.
Judge Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying appeal fees.
The detailed version
- In re: Jesus Torres · No. 7:24-cv-00411
- Cathy Seibel
- Jan. 25, 2024
Background
Jesus Torres, who the opinion says is incarcerated at Orange County Jail, filed a civil action without paying the filing fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The opinion identifies Torres as proceeding without a lawyer.
Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405—the $350 filing fee and $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting a signed application and prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner's account. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that permission.
The court ordered Torres, within 30 days of the order, to choose one of those options. Any submitted forms must identify docket number 24-CV-411 (LTS). The court stated that no answer was required at that time and that the case would be processed through the Clerk's Office if Torres complied. It stated that the action will be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time.
Appeal and disposition
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. This order addressed filing-fee and paperwork requirements; it did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.