Urena v. The City of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-01880
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Urena v. City of New York, Judge Swain ordered payment or IFP paperwork before the case could proceed.
Amaury Urena, who must either pay the required fees or submit the specified IFP application and prisoner authorization within 30 days for the action to proceed.
What happened
In Urena v. The City of New York, Amaury Urena, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the required forms.
The court gave Urena 30 days to either pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. No summons will be issued yet, and the action will be dismissed if he does not comply within the allowed time.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Urena v. The City of New York · No. 1:24-cv-01880
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 14, 2024
Background
Amaury Urena filed this civil action against The City of New York and other defendants. The opinion states that Urena is currently incarcerated at Rikers Island—Rose M. Singer Enhanced Supervised Housing and is proceeding without a lawyer.
Urena submitted his complaint without paying the filing fees and without a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning without prepaying court fees. He also did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Order
Judge Swain ordered Urena, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things:
1. Pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee; or 2. Submit a signed IFP application and prisoner authorization.
If the court grants a prisoner’s IFP application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act still requires collection of the $350 filing fee in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization permits the correctional facility to deduct those payments and requires certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted IFP status under the cited statute.
The documents submitted in response must identify docket number 24-CV-1880 (LTS). The court stated that no summons would be issued at that time. If Urena complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the permitted period, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal and classification
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order addresses filing requirements and does not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.