Grant v. Senkowski

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that an Article 78 proceeding is not timely commenced under CPLR 304 until the initiating papers are physically received by the court clerk or the clerk’s designee. The court rejected a pro se prisoner mailbox rule, while recognizing that CPLR 1101(f) permits an indigent inmate to commence a proceeding by filing an unsigned order to show cause once the papers are received and an index number is assigned.

Holdings

1. Under New York's commencement-by-filing system, a CPLR article 78 proceeding is filed when the commencement papers are physically received by the court clerk or the clerk's designated recipient, not when a pro se prisoner delivers those papers to prison authorities for mailing.
2. CPLR 1101(f) permits an inmate to commence an action or proceeding by filing the specified poor-person application and commencement papers, including an unsigned order to show cause; filing occurs when the papers are received by the clerk and an index number is assigned.
3. The proceeding was untimely because the commencement papers were not received by the court clerk until two days after the statute of limitations expired.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a pro se prisoner's delivery of commencement papers to prison authorities for mailing constitutes filing under CPLR 304 and timely commences a CPLR article 78 proceeding.
2. Whether CPLR 1101(f) permits an inmate to commence a proceeding by filing an unsigned order to show cause and related papers upon receipt by the court clerk and assignment of an index number.
3. Whether the petition was timely under CPLR 304 and CPLR 1101(f).

Disposition

affirmed