Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_15-cv-04902/USCOURTS-cand-4_15-cv-04902-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Thomas H. Spitters
Plaintiff
Unknown
Defendant

Document Text:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

THOMAS H. SPITTERS,

Plaintiff,

v.

UNKNOWN,

Defendant.

Case No. 15-cv-04902-JSC 

ORDER REGARDING IN FORMA 

PAUPERIS APPLICATION AND 

ADDRESSING PLAINTIFF’S FILINGS

Plaintiff Thomas H. Spitters, proceeding pro se, filed this civil action against unknown 

defendant(s) on October 23, 2015. His complaint was accompanied by an in forma pauperis 

application. (Dkt. No. 2.) Because the application was incomplete, the Court denied it without

prejudice to re-filing a completed in forma pauperis application, a copy of which was attached to 

the Court’s Order. (Dkt. No. 4.) The Court also sent Plaintiff a copy of the form for consenting or 

declining to consent to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge. (Dkt. No. 6.) Subsequently, Plaintiff 

filed a series of documents requesting acknowledgment of his filings, listing names of individuals, 

asking questions regarding the paperwork that was mailed to him, requesting original signatures in 

lieu of facsimile signatures on documents sent by the Court, and returning copies of the paperwork 

sent by the Court including the blank in forma pauperis application and the consent or declination 

form. The Court addresses Plaintiff’s filings below.

Acknowledgement of filing: the Court does not mail back received copies of documents.

The Court confirms that since November 4, 2015, it has received letters from Plaintiff dated 

October 10, 2015 re: procedural communication with the Court (Dkt. Nos. 5 & 10), November 6, 

2015 re: telephone call with Simone Voltz (Dkt. No. 7), November 6, 2015 re: required mailing of 

filed documents (Dkt. No. 8), November 12, 2015 re: defendants, also known as defendants (Dkt. 

Case 4:15-cv-04902-PJH Document 13 Filed 12/01/15 Page 1 of 3
2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

No. 9), November 16, 2015 re: consent paperwork (Dkt. No. 11), and November 19, 2015 re: case 

filing(s) (Dkt. No. 12). Plaintiff may travel to the Clerk’s Office in San Francisco to view the 

documents filed in this action and make any copies he wishes.

In Forma Pauperis: if Plaintiff would like to proceed in forma pauperis, that is, without 

paying the fee required to initiate a lawsuit, he must file a complete application to proceed in 

forma pauperis. A blank application is included with this Order. The application is four pages 

long and all four pages must be completed and the application must be signed by Plaintiff.

If Plaintiff does not want to complete the four-page application, he can pay the filing fee. 

This lawsuit cannot proceed until the filing fee issue is resolved.

Consenting or declining to consent to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge: because 

this action has been randomly assigned to the undersigned magistrate judge, by statute Plaintiff 

must affirmatively consent to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge. Accordingly, Plaintiff may 

either consent to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge or decline to consent to the jurisdiction of a 

magistrate judge by checking the appropriate box on the attached form. Plaintiff may withhold his 

consent without substantive adverse consequences, but he must either decline or consent by 

completing the form. Another consent or declination form is included with this Order.

Facsimile signatures: the Court does not mail documents with original signatures.

Finally, the Court urges Plaintiff to make an appointment with the Legal Help Desk which 

provides free legal assistance. There is an office at the courthouse in San Francisco and at the 

courthouse in San Jose. The contact information is as follows:

San Francisco

United States Courthouse

450 Golden Gate Avenue

15th Floor, Room 2796

San Francisco, CA 94102 

Appointment line: 415-782-8982

San Jose

United States Courthouse 

280 South 1st Street 

2nd Floor, Room 2070 

San Jose, CA 95113 

Monday to Thursday 1:00pm - 4:00pm 

Case 4:15-cv-04902-PJH Document 13 Filed 12/01/15 Page 2 of 3
3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

Phone: 408-297-1480

The staff at the Legal Help Desk can help answer any outstanding questions regarding this 

action and the Court’s Orders.

Plaintiff has until December 21, 2015 to file a completed in forma pauperis 

application. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 1, 2015

________________________

JACQUELINE SCOTT CORLEY

United States Magistrate Judge

Case 4:15-cv-04902-PJH Document 13 Filed 12/01/15 Page 3 of 3