Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_17-cv-02478/USCOURTS-casd-3_17-cv-02478-3/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

MANUEL M. SOARES,

CDCR #F-39579,

Plaintiff,

vs.

BONNIE DUMANIS, ET AL.,

Defendants.

Case No.: 3:17-cv-02478-CAB-RBB

ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR 

WAIVER OF FILING FEE

[ECF No. 9]

I. Procedural History

On December 8, 2017, Plaintiff filed a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 

§ 1983, along with a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a). On February 21, 2018, this Court GRANTED Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed 

IFP but simultaneously DISMISSED his Complaint for failing to state a claim upon 

which § 1983 relief could be granted and for seeking monetary damages against immune 

defendants. (ECF No. 3 at 11-12.) The Court DENIED leave to amend as futile and 

certified that an IFP appeal from this Order would be frivolous and therefore, not taken in 

good faith. (Id.) Plaintiff later filed a “Motion pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)” which the 

Court DENIED on March 20, 2018. (ECF Nos. 6, 7.) Now, several months later, 

Plaintiff has filed a “Motion for an Order Waiving the Filing fee.” (ECF No. 9.)

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I. Motion to Waive Filing Fee

As stated above, on February 21, 2018, this Court granted Plaintiff’s Motion for 

Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See ECF 

No. 3. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), no initial partial filing fee was assessed, but 

Plaintiff was expressly advised that as a prisoner bringing a civil action in forma 

pauperis, he was “required to pay the full amount of a filing fee,” albeit in installments as 

available pursuant to the formula provided by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2), and regardless of 

outcome. See ECF No. 3 at 2 (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & 2; Taylor v. Delatoore, 

281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002)).

Plaintiff now requests that the Court “waive” the $350 filing fee owed in this case 

“in the interests of justice in light of his historical indigen[ce], unemployed status and for 

purposes of achieving an equitable resolution for this litigation.” See ECF No. 9 at 6. In 

support of this request, Plaintiff cites Olivares v. Marshall, 59 F.3d 109 (9th Cir. 1995), 

which authorized the partial payment of filing fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, and the noted 

the federal court’s “power to waive all fees” so as not to “take the prisoner’s last dollar.” 

Id. at 111-12. But Olivares pre-dates the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s (“PLRA”) 

amendments to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b). 

“Reacting to ‘a sharp rise in prisoner litigation,’ Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 84 

(2006), Congress in 1996 enacted the PLRA, which installed a variety of measures

‘designed to filter out the bad claims [filed by prisoners] and facilitate consideration of 

the good,’ Coleman v. Tollefson, 575 U.S. __, __, 135 S. Ct. 1759, 1762 (2015) (quoting 

Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 204 (2007) (alteration in original).” Bruce v. Samuels, 136 

S. Ct. 627, 629-30 (2016).

“Among those measures, Congress required prisoners to pay filing fees for the 

suits or appeals they launch.” Id. at 630. “The provisions on fee payment, set forth in 

1915(b), read:

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(1) ... [I]f a prisoner brings a civil action or files an appeal in forma pauperis, 

the prisoner shall be required to pay the full amount of a filing fee. The court 

shall assess and, when funds exist, collect, as a partial payment of any court 

fees required by law, an initial partial filing fee of 20 percent of the greater 

of—

(A) the average monthly deposits to the prisoner’s account; or

(B) the average monthly balance in the prisoner's account for the 6–month 

period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal.

(2) After payment of the initial partial filing fee, the prisoner shall be required 

to make monthly payments of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income 

credited to the prisoner’s account. The agency having custody of the prisoner 

shall forward payments from the prisoner’s account to the clerk of the court 

each time the amount in the account exceeds $10 until the filing fees are paid.

Id. (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), (2) (emphasis added)). “The monthly installment 

scheme described in § 1915(b)(2) also applies to costs awarded against prisoners when 

they are judgment losers.” Id. (citing § 1915(f)(2)(B)).

Thus, § 1915 no longer provides any authority for courts to waive full payment of 

the filing fee required by § 1915(b)(1), or return any portion of the filing fee he has 

already paid, after the civil action has been consolidated, settled, or dismissed for any 

reason. See e.g., Johnson v. Darr, No. 3:10-CV-2334-WQH-POR, 2018 WL 5246597, at 

*2 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 22, 2018); Avery v. Paramo, No. 3:13-CV-2261 BTM DHB, 2015 WL 

5228034, at *3 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 8, 2015); Wilson v. Calif. Dep’t of Corrs., No. 3:13-cv1455 BTM (JLB) (S.D. Cal. Oct. 30, 2014); Adams v. Maricopa Cty. Sheriff’s Office, 

2010 WL 4269528 at *1–2 (D. Ariz. Oct. 25, 2010) (denying prisoner’s motion to stop 

withdrawal of trust account funds pursuant to § 1915(b) and noting that “[t]he decision to 

file and prosecute this case was made by Plaintiff before he filed [his] case. Having filed 

[it], [he] and the Court are both statutorily limited by the strictures of 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915.”).

/ / /

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II. Conclusion and Order

Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Motion for an Order Waiving the Filing Fee due in this 

case must be DENIED (ECF No. 9).

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: November 6, 2018

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