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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

Robert L. SMALL,

Plaintiff,

v.

Gary M. Lanigan, et al.,

Defendants.

 

 

Civil No. 11-2565

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

THOMPSON, U.S.D.J.

Plaintiff, Robert L. Small, an inmate presently confined at Trenton State Prison, seeks to 

bring what appears to be an Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference claim, alleging that a 

nurse practitioner “arbitrarily reduced [his] pain medication” and thereby “subjected [him] to

severe and unnecessary pain.” (Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis 1) [docket # 1-1]. 

Plaintiff has submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. '

1915.

A prisoner bringing a civil action in forma pauperis must submit an affidavit, including a 

statement of all assets, which states that the prisoner is unable to pay the fee. 28 U.S.C. '

1915(a)(1). The prisoner also must submit a certified copy of his inmate trust fund account 

statement for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of his complaint. Id. '

1915(a)(2). The prisoner must obtain this statement from the appropriate official of each prison 

or institutional facility at which he was or is confined. Id. 

Even if the prisoner is granted in forma pauperis status, the prisoner must pay the full 

amount of the $350 filing fee. Id. ' 1915(b)(1). Specifically, in each month that the amount in 

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the prisoner’s account exceeds $10.00, the agency having custody of the prisoner shall assess,

deduct from the prisoner=s account, and forward to the Clerk of the Court payment equal to 20% 

of the preceding month’s income credited to the prisoner=s account until the $350 filing fee is 

paid. Id. ' 1915(b)(2).

Plaintiff may not have known when he submitted his Complaint that he must pay the 

filing fee, and that even if the full filing fee, or any part of it, has been paid, the Court must 

dismiss the case if it finds that the action is (1) frivolous or malicious; (2) fails to state a claim 

upon which relief may be granted; or (3) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is 

immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. ' 1915(e)(2)(B). If the Court dismisses the case for any of 

these reasons, the law does not permit the prisoner to get his filing fee back. 

In this case, Plaintiff has properly submitted an in forma pauperis application claiming an 

entitlement to redress and stating the issues that he intends to present in the action, as well as a 

signed certification from an authorized officer of the correctional facility where he presently is 

confined and a six-month institutional account statement.

IT IS, therefore, on this 9th day of May, 2011,

ORDERED that Plaintiff=s application to proceed in forma pauperis [docket # 1-1] is 

hereby GRANTED; and it is

ORDERED that the Clerk shall file the Complaint without prepayment of fees or security; 

and it is

ORDERED that Plaintiff shall, within thirty days, inform the Clerk of the Court by letter 

of the location where Defendants may be served with legal process so that the officers of the 

Court may issue and serve process as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d); and it is 

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ORDERED that the Clerk shall mail a copy of this Order to Plaintiff.

__/s/ Anne E. Thompson_______

ANNE E. THOMPSON, U.S.D.J.

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