BILL NUMBER: S9452 Revised 6/3/24
SPONSOR: SALAZAR
SOURCE OF BILL:
This bill is being introduced at the request of the Judiciary, upon the
recommendation of the Chief Administrative Judge's Advisory Committee on
Civil Practice.
PURPOSE OF BILL:
This bill eliminates the outdated and pejorative designation of "poor
person" status for court users who lack sufficient means to pay the
costs, fees, and expenses necessary to prosecute or defend an action or
appeal.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends CPLR § 1101(a) to remove the reference to
"motion for permission to proceed as a poor person," and redesignate
that motion as a "motion to waive costs, fees, and expenses" via "affir-
mation or affidavit"; and to provide that a moving party must show that
such party "lacks sufficient means to pay the costs, fees, and expenses
necessary to prosecute or defend the action or appeal."
Sections 2 and 3 of the bill amend CPLR §§ 1102 and 1103, respectively,
to remove references to "poor person" and replace them with references
to a party who successfully moves a court pursuant to CPLR 1101(a).
Section 4 of the bill makes similar changes to Section 380.55 of the
Criminal Procedure Law.
Section 5 of the bill makes the bill effective immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill would amend CPLR §§ 1101, 1102, and 1103, as well as Criminal
Procedure Law § 380.55, to eliminate the use of the phrase "poor
person."
The designation of individuals with insufficient means to prosecute or
defend a legal action as "poor persons" is a highly outdated, pejora-
tive, and often inaccurate legal term. This bill would amend the
affected statutes to eliminate such designation and to clearly and accu-
rately reflect their combined purpose, which is to describe the making
of a motion to waive costs, fees, and expenses, and the benefits that
can flow from a successful motion. The substitution of the phrase "lacks
sufficient means to pay" for "unable to pay" is similarly intended to
only remove language perceived as denigrating without any substantive
change in the applicable legal standard. Separately, the addition of the
terms "assets" and "real" to property are intended merely to clarify
existing law and not as substantive changes to the information to be
included in the supporting affirmation. Finally, these amendments
collectively do not alter the broad discretion of the courts to waive
fees, costs, and expenses or to appoint counsel under CPLR 1101 and
1102.
In addition, given recent amendments to CPLR 2106 authorizing the use of
affirmations in lieu of affidavits for any person in a civil action
pursuant to chapter 559 of the Laws of 2023, the bill further amends
CPLR 1101 to provide that a party may submit an affirmation when moving
for a waiver of costs, fees, and expenses. This change will help make it
clear that a party is no longer required to submit a notarized affidavit
when making such motion. This should save individuals, many of whom are
impecunious, the time, cost, and burden associated with locating a nota-
ry.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new proposal.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
Statutes affected: S9452: 1103 civil practice law