Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-00911/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-00911-0/pdf.json

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

---

1

3:19-cv-00911-GPC-BGS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JOAQUIN FRAZIER,

Inmate #104607,

Plaintiffs,

vs.

SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT; 

SAN DIEGO SHERIFF OFFICE; 

SAN DIEGO STATE COURTS,

Defendants.

Case No.: 3:19-cv-00911-GPC-BGS

ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL 

ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE

FOR FAILING TO PAY 

FILING FEE REQUIRED 

BY 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) AND/OR 

FAILING TO MOVE TO PROCEED 

IN FORMA PAUPERIS 

PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)

Joaquin Frazier (“Plaintiff”), currently incarcerated at Caddo Correctional Center 

in Shreveport, Louisiana, and proceeding pro se, has filed a civil right complaint pursuant 

to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Compl., ECF No. 1. Plaintiff alleges the San Diego Police 

Department, Sheriff’s Office, and San Diego State Courts violated his constitutional 

rights by falsely arresting him in San Diego in 2014, and physically assaulting him while 

he was a pretrial detainee in 2015. Id. at 4-7. He seeks $350 million in compensatory and 

punitive damages, and in the body of his pleading also requests the appointment of 

counsel. Id. at 8-12. He has not prepaid the $400 civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1914(a), however, and has not filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) 

pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). 

Case 3:19-cv-00911-GPC-BGS Document 2 Filed 05/21/19 PageID.<pageID> Page 1 of 4
2

3:19-cv-00911-GPC-BGS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

I. Failure to Pay Filing Fee or Request IFP Status

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). The 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 Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. 

Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s 

(“PLRA”) amendments to § 1915 require that all prisoners who proceed IFP to pay the 

entire fee in “increments” or “installments,” Bruce v. Samuels, __ U.S. __, 136 S. Ct. 

627, 629 (2016); Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), and 

regardless of whether their action is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & 

(2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002).

Section 1915(a)(2) requires all persons seeking to proceed without full prepayment 

of fees to file an affidavit that includes a statement of all assets possessed and 

demonstrates an inability to pay. See Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1234 (9th 

Cir. 2015). In support of this affidavit, the PLRA also requires prisoners to 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); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). From the certified 

trust account statement, the Court assesses 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); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). The institution having 

custody of the prisoner then collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20% of the 

preceding month’s income, in any month in which his account exceeds $10, and forwards 

those payments to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2); 

Bruce, 136 S. Ct. at 629.

///

Case 3:19-cv-00911-GPC-BGS Document 2 Filed 05/21/19 PageID.<pageID> Page 2 of 4
3

3:19-cv-00911-GPC-BGS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

Because Plaintiff has neither paid the filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) to 

commence a civil action, nor filed a Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a), his case cannot yet proceed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); Andrews, 493 F.3d at 

1051. 

Moreover, because there is no right to counsel in a civil case, Plaintiff may request 

that the court exercise its discretion to appoint him counsel, but only under extraordinary 

circumstances and after he has successfully demonstrated his indigence. See 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(e)(1) (“The court may request an attorney to represent any person unable to afford 

counsel.”); Agyeman v. Corr. Corp. of Am., 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004) (28 

U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) requires that the plaintiff has been found eligible to proceed IFP, is 

within “the sound discretion of the trial court[,] and is granted only in exceptional 

circumstances.”).

II. Conclusion and Order

Accordingly, the Court:

(1) DISMISSES this civil action without prejudice based on Plaintiff’s failure 

to pay the $400 civil filing and administrative fee or to submit a Motion to Proceed IFP

pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a) and 1915(a).

(2) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days leave from the date this Order is 

filed to: (a) prepay the entire $400 civil filing and administrative fee in full; or (b) 

complete and file a Motion to Proceed IFP which includes a certified copy of his prison 

trust account statements for the 6-month period preceding the filing of his Complaint. See

28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2(b).

(3) DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to provide Plaintiff with the Court’s 

approved form “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed In Forma 

Pauperis.”1If Plaintiff fails to either prepay the $400 civil filing fee or fully complete 

 

1

 Plaintiff is cautioned that if he chooses to proceed further by either prepaying the full 

$400 civil filing fee, or submitting a properly supported Motion to Proceed IFP, his 

Case 3:19-cv-00911-GPC-BGS Document 2 Filed 05/21/19 PageID.<pageID> Page 3 of 4
4

3:19-cv-00911-GPC-BGS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

and submit the enclosed Motion to Proceed IFP within 45 days, this action will remain 

dismissed without prejudice based on his failure to satisfy 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a)’s fee 

requirement and without further Order of the Court.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: May 21, 2019

 

Complaint will be reviewed before service and may be dismissed sua sponte pursuant to 

28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b) and/or 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B), regardless of whether he pays the 

full $400 filing fee at once, or is granted IFP status and is obligated to pay the full filing 

fee in installments. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126-27 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc) 

(noting that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e) “not only permits but requires” the court to sua sponte

dismiss an in forma pauperis complaint that is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim, 

or seeks damages from defendants who are immune); see also Rhodes v. Robinson, 621 

F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2010) (discussing similar screening required by 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915A of all complaints filed by prisoners “seeking redress from a governmental entity 

or officer or employee of a governmental entity.”).

Case 3:19-cv-00911-GPC-BGS Document 2 Filed 05/21/19 PageID.<pageID> Page 4 of 4