Zhang v. Olesya
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-01939
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Zhang v. Olesya, Judge Swain ordered the incarcerated plaintiff to pay fees or submit applications to proceed without prepayment.
Xiao Ning Zhang must either pay the required fees or submit the specified application and prisoner authorization within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed. The defendants were not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
Zhang v. Olesya concerns a civil action filed by Xiao Ning Zhang, who is incarcerated and representing himself without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without the required fees, application, or prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Zhang, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment deductions from his prison account. No answer is required from the defendants at this stage.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the case proceed through the Clerk’s Office if Zhang complies, but stated that the action will be dismissed if he does not. Judge Swain also denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Zhang v. Olesya · No. 1:24-cv-01939
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 18, 2024
Background
Xiao Ning Zhang filed this civil action while incarcerated at Rose M. Singer Center and proceeding without a lawyer. Zhang submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting 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—the $350 filing fee and $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, Zhang had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account, and the authorization permits the facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months.
The court ordered Zhang to pay the $405 or submit the application and authorization within 30 days of the order. The documents were to identify docket number 24-CV-1939 (LTS). The court stated that no answer from the defendants was required at that time. If Zhang complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if Zhang failed to comply within the permitted period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified 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 addressed filing-fee and authorization requirements; it did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.