Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_17-cv-01867/USCOURTS-casd-3_17-cv-01867-0/pdf.json

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

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3:17-cv-01867-DMS-AGS

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

RAMIRO ORNELAS,

CDCR #F-94282,

Plaintiff,

vs.

MARIA LOPEZ, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No.: 3:17-cv-01867-DMS-AGS

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 

PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 

PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) 

AND DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR 

FAILING TO PREPAY FILING 

FEES REQUIRED BY

28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) 

[ECF No. 9]

RAMIRO ORNELAS (“Plaintiff”), currently incarcerated at Richard J. Donovan 

Correctional Facility (“RJD”) in San Diego, California, and proceeding pro se, has filed 

this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Plaintiff did not prepay the civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) at the 

time he filed his original Complaint (ECF No. 1), but on October 2, 2017, he filed an 

Amended Complaint (ECF No. 8), together with a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis

(“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) (ECF No. 9).

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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 

$400. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a).1 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 

 

1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative 

fee of $50. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court 

Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. June. 1, 2016). The additional $50 administrative fee does 

not apply to persons granted leave to proceed IFP. Id.

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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 or submitted certified copy of his CDCR Inmate Statement Report for 

the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of his Complaint.1 See 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(a)(2); S.D. CAL. CIVLR 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). 

Without these certified trust account statements, 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).

II. Conclusion and Order

For this reason, IT IS ORDERED that:

(1) Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP (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 

 

1

 On September 8, 2017, Plaintiff submitted a certified copy of his CDCR Inmate Statement 

Report covering one month of his trust account activity from July 1, 2017, through August 

8, 2017, see ECF No. 3, but he has not attached proof of the additional 5-months of activity 

required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) to the IFP Motion he filed on October 2, 2017. In 

addition, his IFP Motion is not certified by an authorized trust account official at RJD, and 

is instead signed by Plaintiff himself. See ECF No. 9 at 4.

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administrative filing fee, or (2) filing a renewed 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 6-month 

CDCR Inmate Statement Report within 45 days, this action will remained dismissed 

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

Court.2

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: November 7, 2017

 

2

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

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

his pleadings will be reviewed before service and may be dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

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

to pay filing fees. 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.”).

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