Jaime v. New York State Department of Corrections Community Supervision
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:24-cv-03763
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
Jaime v. New York State Department of Corrections Community Supervision: Judge Swain ordered Luis Jaime to pay fees or submit authorization before the case proceeds.
Luis Jaime, who must either pay the required fees or submit the prisoner authorization for the action to proceed; the defendants are not yet required to respond because no summons has issued.
What happened
In Jaime v. New York State Department of Corrections Community Supervision, Luis Jaime, who is incarcerated and representing himself, submitted a request to proceed without paying court fees upfront but did not submit the required prisoner authorization.
The court ordered Jaime, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit the authorization allowing installment withdrawals from his prison account. No summons will issue yet, and the case will be processed if he complies; otherwise, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also stated that an appeal from this order would not qualify for fee-free status. The order did not decide the claims against the defendants.
The detailed version
- Jaime v. New York State Department of Corrections Community Supervision · No. 7:24-cv-03763
- Kenneth Karas
- May 20, 2024
Background
Luis Jaime filed this civil action while incarcerated at Wende Correctional Facility and is proceeding without a lawyer. He submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), meaning to proceed without prepaying court fees, but he did not submit the separate prisoner authorization required for a prisoner seeking IFP status.
Order
The court explained that filing the action ordinarily requires $405: a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee. A prisoner granted IFP status still must pay the $350 filing fee through installments deducted from the prison account. The prisoner authorization permits those deductions and requires certified account statements for the previous six months to be sent to the court.
The court ordered Jaime, within 30 days of the order, either to pay the $405 in fees or complete and submit the prisoner authorization, labeled with docket number 24-CV-3763 (LTS). No summons will issue at this time. If Jaime complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Additional Rulings and Warnings
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order also warned that certain future dismissals of a prisoner’s federal civil actions or appeals can count as “strikes,” and that three such strikes generally prevent a prisoner from proceeding IFP unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.
The order addressed filing requirements and fee authorization only; it did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.