McCullough v. Westchester County Department of Corrections
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-03511
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In McCullough v. Westchester County Department of Corrections, Judge Swain ordered payment or fee-waiver paperwork within 30 days, warning the action would be dismissed otherwise.
Michael McCullough must either pay the required fees or submit the specified fee-waiver and prisoner-authorization documents within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed. The order also affects any appeal from this order because permission to appeal without prepaying fees was denied.
What happened
In McCullough v. Westchester County Department of Corrections, Michael McCullough, who is incarcerated and representing himself, filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting the paperwork needed to request permission to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court gave McCullough 30 days from May 14, 2024, to either pay $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The authorization would allow installment payments of the $350 filing fee from his prison account.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no answer was required yet and said the case would be processed if McCullough complied. She stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the deadline, and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- McCullough v. Westchester County Department of Corrections · No. 1:24-cv-03511
- Laura Swain
- May 14, 2024
Background
Michael McCullough, who the opinion says is incarcerated at Westchester County Department of Correction, brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Filing requirements
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submit the documents needed to request permission to proceed without prepaying fees. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner's account under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The $55 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted that permission.
Order
The court ordered McCullough, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The documents were to identify docket number 24-CV-3511 (LTS). The prisoner authorization would direct the correctional facility to deduct installment payments from McCullough's account and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.
No answer from Westchester County Department of Corrections was required at that time. The court stated that, if McCullough complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order as Chief United States District Judge.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.