Song v. Trustees of Columbia University in New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-03599
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Song v. Trustees of Columbia University, Judge Swain required Eugenia Song to pay filing fees or apply to proceed without prepaying them.
Eugenia Song, who must either pay the $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Song v. Trustees of Columbia University in New York, Eugenia Song filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them. The opinion states that Song was representing herself.
The court gave Song 30 days to pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. No summons would issue at that time, and the action would be dismissed if Song did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order did not address the merits of Song’s claims.
The detailed version
- Song v. Trustees of Columbia University in New York · No. 1:24-cv-03599
- Laura Swain
- May 14, 2024
Background
Eugenia Song brought this civil action representing herself. She submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Court’s Requirements
The court explained that filing a civil action required either payment of $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submission of a signed IFP application under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court ordered Song, within 30 days of the order, to do one of those two things. If she submitted the application and the court granted it, she would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees.
The court directed that no summons issue at that time. It stated that, if Song complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If she failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal Certification
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
What the Order Did Not Decide
The order addressed filing-fee and case-processing requirements. It did not decide the merits of Song’s claims against the Trustees of Columbia University in New York.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.