How does the court treat a filing from an incarcerated party that misses a deadline?

When an incarcerated party files a document with the court and misses a deadline, the court treats the document as filed on the date it was delivered to the prison authorities for mailing. This practice is based on the "prison mailbox rule," which recognizes the unique challenges faced by incarcerated individuals and aims to ensure that they are not penalized for delays that are beyond their control, such as postal service issues or processing times within the prison system.

By considering the filing date to be the date it was handed over to prison authorities, the court acknowledges the reality that inmates may not be able to submit documents directly to the court. This rule upholds the principle of access to justice, ensuring that simply because a filing is late in arriving at the court does not automatically result in its dismissal, as long as the inmate took the proper steps to get it sent on time.