Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-00504/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-00504-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983pr Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JOHN LAKE,

CDCR #AF-8850,

Plaintiff,

vs.

WARDEN DANIEL PARAMO; 

JOHN DOES,

Defendants.

Case No.: 3:19-cv-00504-CAB-NLS

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 

PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 

PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) 

AND DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR 

FAILING TO PREPAY FILING 

FEES REQUIRED BY

28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) 

[ECF No. 2]

John Lake (“Plaintiff”), a state inmate currently housed in the California State 

Prison - Los Angeles County located in Lancaster, California, and proceeding pro se, has 

filed a Complaint pursuant to the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (See Compl., ECF 

No. 1.)

Plaintiff did not prepay the civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) at the 

time he submitted his Complaint, but instead has filed Motion to Proceed In Forma 

Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). (See ECF No. 2.)

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I. Motion to Proceed IFP

All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 

United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 

$400. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a).1 An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to 

prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a). See Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, if the 

plaintiff is a prisoner at the time of filing, he may be granted leave to proceed IFP, but he 

nevertheless remains obligated to pay the entire fee in “increments,” see Williams v. 

Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), regardless of whether his case is ultimately 

dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th 

Cir. 2002). A “prisoner” is defined as “any person” who at the time of filing is 

“incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or 

adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms or conditions of parole, 

probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(h); Taylor, 281 

F.3d at 847.

Prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP must also submit a “certified copy of the[ir] 

trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) . . . for the 6-month period 

immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). From the 

certified trust account statement, the Court must assess an initial payment of 20% of (a) 

the average monthly deposits in the account for the past six months, or (b) the average 

monthly balance in the account for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the 

prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), (4); Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850. After, 

the Court orders the institution having custody of the prisoner to collect subsequent 

 

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In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative 

fee of $50. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court 

Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. June. 1, 2016). The additional $50 administrative fee does 

not apply to persons granted leave to proceed IFP. Id.

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payments, assessed at 20% of the preceding month’s income, in any month in which his

account exceeds $10, and forward them to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See

28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 

While Plaintiff has filed a Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), 

he has not attached a certified copy of his CDCR Inmate Trust Account Statement Report

for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of his Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a)(2); S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2. Section 1915(a)(2) clearly requires that prisoners 

“seeking to bring a civil action . . . without prepayment of fees . . . shall submit a certified 

copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) . . . for the 6-month 

period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) 

(emphasis added). 

Without his certified trust account statements, the Court is unable to assess the 

appropriate amount of the initial filing fee which is statutorily required to initiate the 

prosecution of this action. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1).

II. Conclusion and Order

For this reason, IT IS ORDERED that:

(1) Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP (ECF No. 2) is DENIED and the action is 

DISMISSED without prejudice based on his failure to prepay the $400 filing fee 

required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a).

(2) Plaintiff is GRANTED forty-five (45) days from the date of this Order in 

which to re-open his case by either: (1) paying the entire $400 statutory and 

administrative filing fee in one lump-sum, or (2) filing a renewed Motion to Proceed IFP, 

which includes a completed prison certificate and/or a certified copy of his CDCR Inmate 

Trust Account Statement Report for the 6-month period preceding the filing of his 

Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2(b). 

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(3) The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to provide Plaintiff with a Courtapproved form “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed IFP” for his use 

and convenience. But if Plaintiff neither pays the $400 filing fee in full, nor sufficiently 

completes and files a renewed Motion to Proceed IFP, together with a certified copy of 

his 6-month CDCR Inmate Trust Account Statement Report within 45 days, this case will 

remain dismissed without prejudice pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), and without any 

further Order of the Court.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: March 20, 2019

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