Randolph v. American Express
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-02433
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Randolph v. American Express, Judge Swain ordered payment or an IFP application before the case could proceed.
Jamein Randolph, who must pay the required fees or submit an IFP application within 30 days for the case to proceed; American Express, whose response is not required at this stage because no summons has issued.
What happened
In Randolph v. American Express, Jamein Randolph filed a lawsuit without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them. The court said his documents did not show that he could not afford the fees, and the attached check did not appear valid.
The court gave Randolph 30 days to pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment. The court also said that no summons would issue at that time and that the case would be processed if he complied.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated that failure to comply within the allowed time would result in dismissal of the action. She also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Randolph v. American Express · No. 1:24-cv-02433
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 3, 2024
Background
Jamein Randolph brought this action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the $405 required fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court refers to this application as an in forma pauperis (IFP) application.
The handwritten documents Randolph submitted did not provide information about his financial circumstances and therefore did not establish that he was unable to pay. He also attached a copy of a $450 check purportedly from the United States Department of the Treasury, payable through him to the Clerk of Courts for the Southern District of New York. The court stated that the check did not appear valid and did not constitute payment to the court.
Order
The court ordered Randolph, within 30 days of April 3, 2024, to either pay the $405 in fees or submit the attached IFP application. If he submitted the application, it had to identify docket number 24-CV-02433 (LTS). If the court granted the application, Randolph would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees.
No summons would issue at that time. If Randolph complied with the order, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the permitted time, the action would be dismissed.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not decide the underlying claims against American Express. The order directed Randolph to pay the fees or submit an IFP application, and it denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal by certifying that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.