Dinkins v. The City of New York
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:24-cv-01604
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Dinkins v. The City of New York: Judge Swain ordered payment or an updated fee-waiver application, warning that noncompliance would lead to dismissal.
Shaquille S. Dinkins, who must either pay the court fees or submit an adequate amended fee-waiver application within 30 days to avoid dismissal without prejudice.
What happened
In Dinkins v. The City of New York, Shaquille S. Dinkins, who is representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees. The application was not on the court’s form, was incomplete, and did not show that he could not pay.
The court gave Dinkins 30 days to pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed, updated application with facts showing that he cannot pay. No answer from the defendants was required at this stage.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the case would be processed if Dinkins complied, but that it would be dismissed without prejudice if he did not. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Dinkins v. The City of New York · No. 1:24-cv-01604
- Lorna Schofield
- Mar. 4, 2024
Background
Shaquille S. Dinkins brought this civil action without a lawyer. To proceed, he had to pay $402 in court fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application asking to proceed without paying the fees. This type of fee waiver is commonly called an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Dinkins submitted an application, but he did not use the court’s form. The court found that the information was incomplete and did not establish that he was unable to pay the fees. The court also noted that a recent related case brought by Dinkins had ended in a settlement.
Order
The court ordered Dinkins, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $402 in fees or submit an amended fee-waiver application. The amended application had to identify docket number 24-CV-1604 (LTS) and provide facts showing that Dinkins could not pay the fees. If the court granted that application, Dinkins would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees.
The court stated that no answer from the defendants was required at that time. If Dinkins complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the order did not state that refiling would be barred.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified under federal law that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.