Opinion ID: 171891
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Boling-Bey's other arguments

Text: We perceive three other arguments in Boling-Bey's response, none of which is persuasive. First, he notes that the clerk of this court already assessed fees in this appeal, apparently implying that he already has approval to proceed ifp on appeal. The assessment of fees by the clerk's office is ministerial in nature and required by § 1915(b)(1) regardless of § 1915(a): Notwithstanding subsection (a), if a prisoner brings a civil action or files an appeal in forma pauperis, the prisoner shall be required to pay the full amount of a filing fee. The court shall assess and, when funds exist, collect, as a partial payment of any court fees required by law, an initial partial filing fee of 20 percent of the greater of (A) the average monthly deposits to the prisoner's account; or (B) the average monthly balance in the prisoner's account for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) (emphases added). But the clerk's assessment of fees does not address the substantive aspects of § 1915 and it is not an express or implicit grant of a motion to proceed ifp on appeal. Boling-Bey's ifp Motion is deficient for lack of a certified copy of his trust fund account statement. This court may order a prisoner to correct such a deficiency at any time regardless of a prior assessment of fees or order directing a prisoner's custodian to withhold moneys from his trust fund account. Second, Boling-Bey states that his present location of confinement has in the alternative ... signed a contract with [him] and [his] casemanager ... to pay the fees agreed too [sic]. Response at 3, ¶ 7. We read this statement to mean that he does not have to file his account statement because he signed an agreement authorizing prison officials to pay any partial filing fees out of his inmate trust fund. We flatly reject this contention. The authorization required of prisoners does not free them from complying with the requirements of § 1915 and Rule 24. [7] The third and final argument we see in Boling-Bey's Response is his reference to the general principle of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(4), that no prisoner may be prohibited from bringing an appeal because the prisoner has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial filing fee. This argument misses the point, as the reason for having him file a certified copy of his trust fund account statement for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of his notice of appeal is to determine whether he now has sufficient assets to pay the appellate filing fee without the benefit of ifp status, not to prohibit him from taking an appeal due to indigence.