Kourani v. Department of Justice
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-00857
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Kourani v. Department of Justice, Judge Swain ordered Ali Kourani to pay fees or submit a signed prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Ali Kourani, the incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must either pay the required fees or submit the signed prisoner authorization for the action to proceed.
What happened
Kourani v. Department of Justice concerns Ali Kourani’s attempt to bring a civil case while incarcerated and representing himself. He submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront, but he did not submit the required signed prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Kourani to either pay $405 in fees or complete, sign, and submit the authorization within 30 days. The authorization would permit installment deductions of the $350 filing fee from his prison trust account and require certified account statements. The court said no summons would issue yet.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the case would be processed if Kourani complied and would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to appeal this order without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Kourani v. Department of Justice · No. 1:24-cv-00857
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 7, 2024
Background
Ali Kourani, who is incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit a completed and signed prisoner authorization.
Court-fee requirements
The court explained that a prisoner bringing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying the fees. If the court grants that request, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s prison trust account. A prisoner must therefore also authorize withdrawals and provide certified copies of prison trust account statements for the previous six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court ordered Kourani, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or complete, sign, and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 24-CV-0857 (LTS). The authorization would direct the agency holding him to provide the required account statements, calculate the installment amounts, deduct them from his prison trust account, and send them to the court.
No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the action would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Kourani complied. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The order did not address the underlying claims or decide whether Kourani was entitled to relief.
The court also stated that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion further noted that Kourani had asked to seal the action. Until the court ruled on that request, access to documents already filed was restricted to case participants; if the action were dismissed for failure to comply, the court would also direct that those documents be made publicly available on the electronic docket.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.