Song v. Hoch
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-02532
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Song v. Hoch, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Eugenia Song to pay fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
Eugenia Song, who must either pay the required fees or submit an IFP application within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Song v. Hoch, Eugenia Song brought the case without a lawyer but did not pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment. The order did not describe the claims against Emily Hoch.
The court gave Song 30 days from April 11, 2024, to pay $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying them. No summons would issue at that time, and the case would be processed if Song complied. The court stated that the action would be dismissed if she did not comply within the deadline.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Song’s claims.
The detailed version
- Song v. Hoch · No. 1:24-cv-02532
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 11, 2024
Background
Eugenia Song filed this civil action without a lawyer. She submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an IFP application. The opinion does not describe the claims or the underlying dispute involving Emily Hoch.
Order
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit a signed IFP application. The court ordered Song, within 30 days of April 11, 2024, to do one of those two things. If she submitted the application and the court granted it, she would be allowed to proceed without paying the fees in advance.
No summons would issue at that time. The case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Song complied. The court stated that the action would be dismissed if she failed to comply within the permitted time.
Appeal and Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. This order addressed payment of fees and the application process; it did not decide the merits of Song’s claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.