Carter v. John Doe 1
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-02403
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Carter v. John Doe 1, Judge Swain ordered Carter to pay filing fees or submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying them.
David Carter, Sr., who must either pay the required fees or submit the properly captioned fee-waiver materials within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
David Carter, Sr. brought this case against P.O. John Doe #1 and others while incarcerated and without a lawyer. He submitted a fee-waiver application and prisoner authorization, but they were labeled for another court.
The court gave Carter 30 days to pay $405 or submit the attached application and prisoner authorization for this case. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if he complies; if he does not, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees on appeal, ruling that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Carter v. John Doe 1 · No. 1:24-cv-02403
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 15, 2024
Background
David Carter, Sr., who is incarcerated at Elmira Correctional Facility, filed this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he filed the complaint in the Eastern District of New York, which transferred the matter to the Southern District of New York.
Carter submitted an application to proceed without prepaying filing fees and a prisoner authorization, but those documents were captioned for another court.
Court’s order
The court ordered Carter, within 30 days of April 15, 2024, to do one of two things: pay the required $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, or submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees, along with the required prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 24-CV-2403 (LTS).
If the court grants the fee-waiver application, the $350 filing fee must be collected in installments from Carter’s prison account. The prisoner authorization directs the facility to make those deductions and send the court certified copies of his account statements for the previous six months. The opinion states that the $55 administrative fee does not apply to people granted this fee-waiver status.
Current status and consequences
No summons will issue at this time. If Carter complies with the order, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The court also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a “strike” under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. This order addresses filing fees and required documents; it does not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.