Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-1_15-cv-01202/USCOURTS-caed-1_15-cv-01202-0/pdf.json

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

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

MONICO J. QUIROGA,

Plaintiff,

v.

AGUILARA, et al.,

Defendant.

1:15-cv-01202-MJS (PC)

ORDER DIRECTING PLAINTIFF TO SUBMIT 

NOTICE OF CLARIFICATION 

Plaintiff has filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and also filed 

a prisoner’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis.

The address listed on the complaint indicates Plaintiff was not incarcerated at the 

time he initiated the action. (See ECF No. 1 at 1.) However, Plaintiff’s

contemporaneously-filed application to proceed in forma pauperis states he is 

incarcerated at the Lerdo Detention Facility in Kern County.1(ECF No. 2) 

The in forma pauperis statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, distinguishes unincarcerated

indigent people from incarcerated ones. Under § 1915(a)(1), a non-prisoner plaintiff may

file suit without prepaying fees, provided he or she submits an affidavit demonstrating

“that the person is unable to pay such fees or give security therefor.” Escobedo v. 

 

1 Whether or not he was incarcerated at the time of filing this action, it is clear that he is now in custody at 

the Lerdo Pretrial Facility following a September 5, 2015 arrest. See Kern County Sheriff’s Office Inmate 

Search website, http://www.kernsheriff.com/misc/inmatesearch/Pages/default.aspx.

Case 1:15-cv-01202-LJO-MJS Document 5 Filed 09/21/15 Page 1 of 2
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Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1232 (9th Cir. 2015); Ingle v. Cir. City Stores, Inc., 328 F.3d 

1165, 1177 (9th Cir. 2003). An indigent prisoner, by contrast, is not exempt from 

prepayment. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). Instead, the prisoner must submit a copy of his or 

her trust account statement, make an initial upfront payment, followed by subsequent 

monthly installments, until the filing fee is paid in full. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)-(2). In this 

case, a ruling on Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis by a prisoner turns on 

whether Plaintiff was incarcerated at the time that he filed this action. 

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff shall file a notice within 

twenty-one (21) days from the date of this order clarifying whether he was incarcerated 

when he initiated suit on August 3, 2015 and setting forth his current mailing address.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: September 21, 2015 /s/Michael J. Seng 

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Case 1:15-cv-01202-LJO-MJS Document 5 Filed 09/21/15 Page 2 of 2