King v. Neal

Background

Kejohna King filed a civil action while incarcerated at Orange County Correctional Facility and represented himself. The opinion does not describe the claims in the complaint. King submitted the complaint without the filing fees, a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, or a prisoner authorization.

Order regarding fees and forms

The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. To make that request, King had to submit a signed application and a prisoner authorization. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from the prison account, and the authorization directs the facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the preceding six months.

Within 30 days of the order, King was required either to pay the $405 or to submit the attached application and prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 24-CV-2382 (LTS). The court directed that no summons be issued at that time. It stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if King complied and that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed period.

Appeal and additional warning

Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order also warned that a future dismissal of a prisoner’s federal action or appeal as frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim can count as a statutory “strike,” and that three such strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.