Bonilla v. Aguila
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:24-cv-01309
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Bonilla v. Aguila, Judge Swain ordered Ivan Bonilla to pay $405 or submit required forms within 30 days, or the case will be dismissed.
Ivan Bonilla must, within 30 days, either pay $405 in fees or submit a completed fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization. If he does neither, his action will be dismissed. The order does not resolve his underlying claims against J. Aguila, Correctional Officer.
What happened
Bonilla v. Aguila is a civil action brought by Ivan Bonilla, who is incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer. He filed the complaint without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization.
The court gave Bonilla 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or submit the required signed forms. The $405 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee. If he submits the forms, the case will be processed under the court’s procedures; no summons will be issued at this time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the action will be dismissed if Bonilla does not comply within the time allowed. The court also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Bonilla v. Aguila · No. 7:24-cv-01309
- Kenneth Karas
- Feb. 22, 2024
Background
Ivan Bonilla, who is incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing fees and without 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 plus a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Bonilla had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. The authorization permits deductions from his prison account toward the $350 filing fee and requires certified copies of his account statements for the previous six months.
Within 30 days of the order, Bonilla must either pay the $405 or submit the required application and authorization, labeled with docket number 24-CV-1309 (LTS). No summons will be issued at this time. If Bonilla complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal and Scope of the Order
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for that appeal. This order addresses the filing-fee and authorization requirements; it does not decide the underlying claims against J. Aguila, Correctional Officer.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.