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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Apr. 1, 2024

Stansberry v. Neal

Judge
Laura Swain
Docket
1:24-cv-02227
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
5
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Stansberry v. Neal, Judge Swain ordered Damante Stansberry to pay fees or submit forms before the case proceeds.

Who this affects

Damante Stansberry, who must either pay the required fees or submit the required application and prisoner authorization within 30 days for the case to proceed.

What happened

In Stansberry v. Neal, Damante Stansberry filed a civil case without paying the required fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying them. The order says he is incarcerated and representing himself.

The court gave Stansberry 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or submit the required application and authorization. If he submits the forms, the $350 filing fee would be collected from his account in installments; the $55 administrative fee would not apply if the court allows him to proceed without prepaying fees.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no summons issue yet and said the case would be processed if Stansberry complied. The order states that the action will be dismissed if he does not comply, and it denies fee-waiver status for any appeal from this order.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Stansberry v. Neal · No. 1:24-cv-02227
Judge
Laura Swain
Date
Apr. 1, 2024

Background

Damante Stansberry filed this civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The opinion states that Stansberry is incarcerated at Orange County Correctional Facility and is representing himself.

Order

The court directed Stansberry, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee; or submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees and prisoner authorization. The prisoner authorization would allow the facility holding Stansberry to deduct the $350 filing fee from his account in installments and provide the court with certified account statements for the preceding six months. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted permission to proceed without prepaying fees.

The court directed that no summons issue at that time. It stated that, if Stansberry complied with the order, 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.

Appeal and classification

The court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order addresses filing requirements and payment of fees; it does not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.

The authoritative version

Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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