Benton v. Cidambi
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-02968
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Benton v. Cidambi, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Carzell Benton to pay $405 or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days.
Carzell Benton, who must either pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees for the action to continue; the action will be dismissed if he does not comply within 30 days.
What happened
In Benton v. Cidambi, Carzell Benton filed a civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
The court ordered Benton, within 30 days, to pay $405 or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees. The court said no summons would issue at that time and that the case would be processed if Benton complied.
Judge Swain ordered the payment or application and stated that the action would be dismissed if Benton did not comply within the allowed time. She also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Benton v. Cidambi · No. 1:24-cv-02968
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 22, 2024
Background
Carzell Benton filed this civil action pro se, meaning without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing and administrative fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Court’s Order
The court explained that beginning a civil action required either payment of $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. The court ordered Benton to take one of those steps within 30 days and instructed him to identify the case by docket number 24-CV-2968 (LTS) if he submitted the application.
The court stated that, if it granted the application, Benton could proceed without paying the fees in advance. No summons would issue at that time. If Benton complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures; if he did not comply within the deadline, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal Certification
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order addresses filing requirements and does not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.