Crimmins v. United States

Background

Thomas W. Crimmins, who was incarcerated at FCI Otisville and was proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil action against the United States and other defendants. He submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without prepaying filing fees, but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.

Under the statutes cited by the court, a prisoner seeking to proceed without prepaying fees must authorize the facility holding him to provide certified account statements for the prior six months and deduct the filing fee from his account in installments. The total fees for a civil action are $405: a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee. The administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepayment.

Court’s Order

The court ordered Crimmins, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $405 in fees or submit the attached prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 24-CV-0995 (LTS). If he submitted the authorization, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. No summons would issue at that time. If he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order cautioned that certain future dismissals could count as strikes under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), potentially affecting a prisoner’s ability to proceed without prepaying fees in later federal civil actions.

Effect of the Order

This was a procedural order about filing requirements. The court did not decide whether Crimmins’s underlying claims against the defendants were legally valid or whether he was entitled to relief.