Source: https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/casdce/3:2017cv01867/545832/10
Timestamp: 2018-02-20 15:59:34
Document Index: 436248412

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1915', '§ 1914', '§ 1914', '§ 1915', '§ 1914', '§ 1983', '§ 1914', '§ 1915', '§ 1914', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1914', '§ 14', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1914', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1914', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 1915']

ORDER Denying 9 Motion to Proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U for Ornelas v. Lopez et al :: Justia Dockets & Filings
Justia Dockets & Filings Ninth Circuit California California Southern District Court Ornelas v. Lopez et al Filing 10
Ornelas v. Lopez et al
ORDER Denying 9 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). IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's Moti on 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). 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 renewed Motion to Proceed IFP. Signed by Judge Dana M. Sabraw on 11/7/2017. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service)(IFP form mailed to Plaintiff)(aef)(jrd)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 RAMIRO ORNELAS, CDCR #F-94282, 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] Plaintiff, 13 vs. 14 15 16 MARIA LOPEZ, et al., Defendants. 17 18 19 20 RAMIRO ORNELAS (“Plaintiff”), currently incarcerated at Richard J. Donovan 21 Correctional Facility (“RJD”) in San Diego, California, and proceeding pro se, has filed 22 this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 23 Plaintiff did not prepay the civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) at the 24 time he filed his original Complaint (ECF No. 1), but on October 2, 2017, he filed an 25 Amended Complaint (ECF No. 8), together with a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis 26 (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) (ECF No. 9). 27 /// 28 /// 1 3:17-cv-01867-DMS-AGS 1 I. 2 Motion to Proceed IFP All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 3 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 4 $400. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 1 An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to 5 prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 6 § 1915(a). See Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, if the 7 plaintiff is a prisoner at the time of filing, he may be granted leave to proceed IFP, but he 8 nevertheless remains obligated to pay the entire fee in “increments,” see Williams v. 9 Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), regardless of whether his action is 10 ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 11 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). A “prisoner” is defined as “any person” who at the time of 12 filing is “incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of, 13 sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms or 14 conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program.” 28 U.S.C. 15 § 1915(h); Taylor, 281 F.3d at 847. 16 In order to comply with the PLRA, prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP must 17 also submit a “certified copy of the[ir] trust fund account statement (or institutional 18 equivalent) . . . for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the 19 complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). From the certified trust account statement, the Court 20 assesses an initial payment of 20% of (a) the average monthly deposits in the account for 21 the past six months, or (b) the average monthly balance in the account for the past six 22 months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. 23 § 1915(b)(1), (4); see Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850. Thereafter, the institution having custody 24 25 26 27 28 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. 2 3:17-cv-01867-DMS-AGS 1 of the prisoner collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20% of the preceding month’s 2 income, in any month in which the prisoner’s account exceeds $10, and forwards them to 3 the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 4 While Plaintiff has filed a Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), 5 he has not attached or submitted certified copy of his CDCR Inmate Statement Report for 6 the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of his Complaint. 1 See 28 U.S.C. 7 § 1915(a)(2); S.D. CAL. CIVLR 3.2. Section 1915(a)(2) clearly requires that prisoners 8 “seeking to bring a civil action ... without prepayment of fees ... shall submit a certified 9 copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) ... for the 6-month 10 period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) 11 (emphasis added). 12 Without these certified trust account statements, the Court is unable to assess the 13 appropriate amount of the initial filing fee which is statutorily required to initiate the 14 prosecution of this action. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). 15 II. Conclusion and Order 16 For this reason, IT IS ORDERED that: 17 (1) Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP (ECF No. 9) is DENIED and the action is 18 DISMISSED without prejudice for failure to prepay the $400 filing fee required by 28 19 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 20 21 (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 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 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. 3 3:17-cv-01867-DMS-AGS 1 administrative filing fee, or (2) filing a renewed Motion to Proceed IFP, which includes a 2 certified copy of his trust account statement for the 6-month period preceding the filing of 3 his Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and S.D. CAL. CIVLR 3.2(b). 4 (3) The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to provide Plaintiff with a Court- 5 approved form “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed IFP” in this 6 matter. If Plaintiff neither pays the $400 filing fee in full nor sufficiently completes and 7 files the attached Motion to Proceed IFP, together with a certified copy of his 6-month 8 CDCR Inmate Statement Report within 45 days, this action will remained dismissed 9 without prejudice pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), and without further Order of the 10 Court.2 11 12 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: November 7, 2017 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 2 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 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.”). 4 3:17-cv-01867-DMS-AGS