Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_16-cv-03072/USCOURTS-casd-3_16-cv-03072-1/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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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

TONY BLACKMAN,

Plaintiff,

v.

DANIEL A. PARAMO, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No.: 3:16-cv-03072-JLS-JMA

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 

PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 

AND DISMISSING ACTION 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Tony Blackman (“Plaintiff”), a state inmate currently housed at the Richard J. 

Donovan Correctional Facility (“RJD”) located in San Diego, California, and proceeding 

pro se, has filed a civil rights complaint (“Compl.”) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (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) (Doc. No. 11).

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 

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$400. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 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 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.

In order to comply with the PLRA, 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 

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), (4); see Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850. Thereafter, the institution having custody 

of the prisoner 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 a Motion to Proceed IFP 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); S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2. Section 1915(a)(2) requires that prisoners 

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

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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). Instead, Plaintiff has filed a trust account statement dated for the time 

period from November 1, 2006 to May 29, 2007. (See ECF. No. 11, at 3.) 

Without Plaintiff’s current trust account statement reflecting the 6-month period 

immediately preceding the filing of this action, the Court is simply 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 these reasons, IT IS ORDERED that:

(1) Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP (Doc. No. 11) 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 Motion to Proceed IFP, which includes a 

certified copy of his trust account statement 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). 

(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 Motion to Proceed IFP, together with a certified copy of his trust 

account statement within 45 days, this action will remain dismissed without prejudice 

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

Dated: January 17, 2017

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