Luna v. Georgy
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-01884
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Luna v. Georgy, Judge Swain ordered Andy E. Luna to pay filing fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Andy E. Luna and the processing of his civil action; the order requires him to pay the fees or submit a prisoner authorization before the case proceeds.
What happened
In Luna v. Georgy, Andy E. Luna, who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront. He did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Luna, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit the completed authorization. The authorization would allow installment deductions of the $350 filing fee from his prison account and require certified account statements. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that failing to comply would result in dismissal of the action.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not address the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Luna v. Georgy · No. 1:24-cv-01884
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 26, 2024
Background
Andy E. Luna, who is incarcerated at OBCC and is proceeding without a lawyer, filed this civil action against AC Georgy and other defendants. Luna submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting the required documents. If the court grants the application to proceed without prepayment, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires collection of the $350 filing fee through installment deductions from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization also directs the correctional facility to send certified account statements for the previous six months.
The court ordered Luna, within 30 days of March 26, 2024, either to pay the $405 in fees or submit the completed prisoner authorization labeled with docket number 24-CV-1884 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. If Luna complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that any 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 requirements and case processing; it did not decide the merits of Luna’s claims. The opinion also cautioned that certain future dismissals could count as strikes under the federal prisoner litigation statute.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.