Pearson v. Orange County Jail
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-03354
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Pearson v. Orange County Jail, Judge Swain ordered Pearson to pay fees or submit prisoner authorization within 30 days.
Robert Pearson, who must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization within 30 days to avoid dismissal of the action.
What happened
Pearson v. Orange County Jail is a civil action brought by Robert Pearson, who is incarcerated and representing himself. He submitted an application to proceed without paying fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The order gives Pearson 30 days from May 3, 2024, to pay $405 in fees or submit the completed authorization. The authorization would allow installment deductions from his prison account for the $350 filing fee and provide account statements. No summons will issue yet.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated that the case will be processed if Pearson complies and will be dismissed if he does not. She also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Pearson v. Orange County Jail · No. 1:24-cv-03354
- Laura Swain
- May 3, 2024
Background
Robert Pearson, who is incarcerated at Orange County Jail, filed this action without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees by submitting the required forms. If permission is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization permits the facility to deduct those installments and requires certified account statements for the previous six months to be sent to the court.
Within 30 days of the order, Pearson must either pay the $405 or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 24-CV-3354 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Pearson complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures; if he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Other Rulings
The court certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order also cautioned that certain future dismissals of prisoner actions may count as strikes under the federal prisoner-litigation statute, but it did not decide the merits of Pearson’s underlying claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.