Opinion ID: 163895
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dismissal for failure to pay filing fees

Text: The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow a district court to dismiss an action for failure to comply with a court order. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b). Accordingly, we review for abuse of discretion the district court’s dismissal of Mr. Rutherford’s suit. See Mobley v. McCormick , 40 F.3d 337, 340 & n.1 (10th Cir. 1994). As outlined above, the record demonstrates that Mr. Rutherford complied with the court’s February 12, 2002, order to show cause why he could not pay installment fees by submitting his inmate account and an explanation of mandatory deductions and voluntary expenditures. The account reflects no positive account balance. Under these circumstances, no monthly payment is due and the case could not be dismissed for failure to pay the fees. See § 1915(b)(2) (providing that “[t]he agency having custody of the prisoner shall forward payments from the prisoner’s account to the clerk of the court each time the amount in the account exceeds $10”; § 1915(b)(4) (“In no event shall a prisoner be prohibited from bringing a civil action . . . for the reason that the prisoner has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial filing fee”); Shabazz v. Parsons , 127 F.3d 1246, 1248 (10th Cir. 1997) (stating that payment of initial partial fee is made only when funds exist and that subsequent monthly payments are “extracted only in months when the prisoner’s trust fund account exceeds -7- ten dollars,” and noting that, under § 1915(b)(4), a prisoner cannot be precluded from going forward with his cause of action when he has no assets or means to make payments) (quotation omitted). We therefore hold that the district court abused its discretion by dismissing the two Eighth Amendment claims against medical staff for defendant’s failure to pay the filing fee.