Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_16-cv-01846/USCOURTS-casd-3_16-cv-01846-1/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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16-CV-1846 JLS (PCL)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

GERALD L. TUCKER,

Plaintiff,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, et 

al.,

Defendants.

Case No.: 16-CV-1846 JLS (PCL)

ORDER: DENYING MOTION TO 

PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 

AND DISMISSING ACTION 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

(ECF No. 9)

Plaintiff Gerald L. Tucker, currently incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan 

Correctional Facility located in San Diego, California, and proceeding pro se, has filed a 

civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Compl., ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff has 

not prepaid the civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); instead, he has filed a 

Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (IFP) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). (IFP Mot., 

ECF No. 9.)

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). An action may proceed despite the 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 and he is granted leave to proceed IFP, he nevertheless remains 

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obligated to pay the entire fee in “increments,” Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 

(9th Cir. 2015), regardless of whether his action 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.

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, as amended by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 

a prisoner seeking leave to proceed IFP must also submit a “certified copy of the trust fund 

account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the six-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); Taylor, 

281 F.3d at 850. 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 the 

prisoner’s account exceeds $10, and forwards them to the Court until the entire filing fee 

is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 

While Plaintiff has filed an IFP Motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), he has not 

attached a certified copy of his trust account statements, or an institutional equivalent, for 

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

§ 1915(a)(2); Civ. L.R. 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). 

/ / /

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Without Plaintiff’s trust account statement, 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).

CONCLUSION

For these reasons, IT IS ORDERED that:

(1) Plaintiff’s IFP Motion (ECF No. 9) is DENIED and the action is 

DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for 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, or (2) filing a new IFP Motion that includes a certified copy of his trust account 

statement for the six-month period preceding the filing of his Complaint pursuant to 28 

U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and Civil Local Rule 3.2(b). 

(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” in this 

matter. If Plaintiff neither pays the $400 filing fee in full nor sufficiently completes and 

files the attached IFP Motion, together with a certified copy of his trust account statement,

within forty-five days, this action shall remained dismissed without prejudice pursuant to 

28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) and without further Order of the Court.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: September 9, 2016

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