Johnson v. City of New York
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:24-cv-03173
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Johnson v. City of New York, Judge Swain ordered Glenn Johnson to pay court fees or request permission to proceed without prepayment within 30 days.
Glenn Johnson, an incarcerated plaintiff proceeding without a lawyer, must either pay the required fees or submit a completed application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days. The City of New York and the other defendants are affected because the case will not be processed and no summons will issue unless Johnson complies.
What happened
In Johnson v. City of New York, Glenn Johnson, who is incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility, filed this case without a lawyer. He submitted a complaint and a prisoner authorization but did not submit the required completed application to proceed without paying fees upfront.
The court ordered Johnson, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit the completed application. The court said no summons would issue yet and warned that the action will be dismissed if he does not comply. If he submits the application, the $350 filing fee may be collected from his account in installments if the court allows him to proceed without prepayment.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims against the City of New York or the other defendants.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. City of New York · No. 1:24-cv-03173
- Ronnie Abrams
- Apr. 26, 2024
Background
Glenn Johnson filed this civil action without a lawyer while incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility. He submitted a complaint and a prisoner authorization, but he did not submit a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Payment or fee-waiver requirement
The court ordered Johnson to take one of two steps within 30 days of the order: pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, or submit the attached completed IFP application. The application had to identify docket number 24-CV-3173 (LTS). The court explained that the $55 administrative fee does not apply to a prisoner who is granted permission to proceed without prepayment under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. The $350 filing fee would still be collected in installments from the prisoner's account, and the prisoner authorization directs the facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
Effect of the order
No summons would issue at that time. If Johnson complied, the Clerk's Office would process the case under its procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed. The court also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness, maliciousness, or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the federal prisoner-litigation statute.
Appeal-fee ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) 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. The order did not address the merits of Johnson's claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.