Court Opinion

ID: 9900805
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-20 16:00:28.895248+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:21:18.321050
License: Public Domain

21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe

 1                      United States Court of Appeals
 2                          for the Second Circuit

 3                                   August Term, 2023

 4                              Argued: September 18, 2023
 5                              Decided: November 20, 2023
 6
 7                          Docket No. 21-2628(L), 21-2851(Con)

 8                                  ALEXANDER ROSA,

 9                                    Plaintiﬀ-Appellant,

10                                            v.

11    JOHN DOE, COMMISSIONER, JOHN DOE, WARDEN, VIKI S. BLUMBERG,
12   MEDICAL DOCTOR, BARONE, WARDEN, VIKTORIA STORK, ROSE, NURSE,
13
14                                Defendants-Appellees.
15                       _____________________________________

16   Before:       CALABRESI, LEE, and PÉREZ, Circuit Judges.

17          Alexander Rosa brought this action alleging that he received
18   constitutionally inadequate medical care as an inmate in the custody of the
19   Connecticut Department of Correction. But before the district court could proceed
20   with his case, Rosa, like all civil litigants in federal court, was required to pay a
21   ﬁling fee of $402. Rosa believed he could not pay the fee while also paying for the
22   necessities of life. So, he moved for leave to proceed in forma pauperis under 28
23   U.S.C. § 1915, which would allow Rosa to bring his suit without having to prepay
24   the full ﬁling fee. The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
25   denied Rosa’s motion, ﬁnding that the prison provided Rosa’s necessities of life.
26   Rosa moved for reconsideration, and the district court again denied his motion.
27   On reconsideration, the district court found that Rosa had the resources to pay for
28   both the necessities of life and the ﬁling fee but had instead chosen to prioritize
                                              1
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   contributions to his family members for their necessities. Rosa argues that both
 2   conclusions are the result of legal error. We agree and conclude that Rosa has
 3   demonstrated that he lacks the resources to pay the costs of the lawsuit and for his
 4   own necessities of life and those of his dependents. We therefore REVERSE,
 5   ﬁnding that Rosa’s motion meets the standard of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), and remand
 6   for consideration of the rest of § 1915’s requirements.
 7
 8                        _____________________________________
 9
10                               RACHEL ZHU, Rule 46.1(e) Law Student (Michael W.
11                               Martin, Ian Weinstein, Lincoln Sq. Legal Serv., Inc., on the
12                               brief), New York, NY, for Plaintiﬀ-Appellant Alexander
13                               Rosa.
14
15                        _____________________________________
16
17   CALABRESI, Circuit Judge:

18         Plaintiﬀ-Appellant Alexander Rosa appeals from a judgment of the United

19   States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Merriam, J.). Rosa believed

20   that the Connecticut Department of Correction violated his Eighth Amendment

21   rights by providing him with insuﬃcient medical care. So, Rosa, acting pro se,

22   sought relief in federal court by ﬁling this suit.

23         Like all civil litigants, however, Rosa had to pay a ﬁling fee before the court

24   could proceed with his case. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914. Believing that payment of the

25   $402 ﬁling fee would render him unable to pay for essentials, Rosa moved for leave

26   to proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. In forma pauperis status allows

                                                 2
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   prisoners like Rosa to bring suits without the obligation to prepay certain fees,

 2   including the $402 ﬁling fee, and allows non-incarcerated litigants to proceed

 3   entirely without paying such fees.      The district court denied Rosa’s motion,

 4   reasoning that the prison provided for Rosa’s necessities of life and that Rosa’s

 5   account contained more than the $402 required to pay the ﬁling fee.              On

 6   reconsideration, the district court again ruled against Rosa, further reasoning that

 7   funds Rosa chose to give his mother and son, even if for their essentials, could

 8   have instead been used to pay the ﬁling fee in his suit. On appeal, Rosa argues

 9   that the district court erred in two ways: ﬁrst, by considering only Rosa’s

10   necessities of life and not the necessities of life of Rosa’s dependents, and second,

11   in concluding that the prison provided all of Rosa’s necessities. We agree with

12   Rosa as to both mistakes and therefore reverse.

13                                    BACKGROUND

14         Alexander Rosa is an inmate in the custody of the State of Connecticut at

15   Osborn Correctional Institution. In January 2019, Rosa entered Connecticut State

16   custody at Bridgeport Correctional Center. Shortly thereafter, Rosa reported to

17   prison medical staﬀ that he had recently suﬀered a broken collarbone in a car

18   accident. He also notiﬁed medical staﬀ that he had long-running pain in both

                                              3
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   shoulders and his right knee, and that he had been injured in two shootings years

 2   prior. Over the ensuing months, Rosa asserts that he repeatedly sought medical

 3   care to little eﬀect. Eventually, Rosa received some medical care, including the

 4   removal of bullet fragments from his shoulder.                    Still, allegedly, Rosa’s pain

 5   persisted, and a bullet lodged near Rosa’s lower femur brought him signiﬁcant

 6   discomfort.

 7          On April 5, 2021, Rosa ﬁled a pro se complaint in the United States District

 8   Court for the District of Connecticut. The complaint charged that Rosa received

 9   insuﬃcient medical care in violation of his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment

10   rights and sought damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint also sought

11   injunctive relief requiring further medical treatment and an order “to be cuﬀed in

12   front and a permanent bottom bunk pass.” App’x 12.

13          But ﬁling a lawsuit in federal court is an expensive process.                         For his

14   complaint to be deemed received, a civil claimant like Rosa must pay the court

15   $402 in fees. 1 Unfortunately, 63% of adults in the United States report not having

     1 The civil filing fee is $350. 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The Schedule of Fees set out following the statute
     also requires an additional administrative fee of $52 for filing any civil case. District Court
     Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, U.S. Courts, https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/fees/district-
     court-miscellaneous-fee-schedule (last visited Nov. 16, 2023).
                                                       4
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   the savings to cover that unexpected expense. 2 Report on the Economic Well-Being

 2   of U.S. Households in 2022, Bd. Governors Fed. Res. Sys. (May 2023),

 3   https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2023-economic-well-being-of-us-

 4   households-in-2022-executive-summary.htm. To remedy the risk that litigants

 5   with meritorious claims but without ﬁnancial resources might be denied their day

 6   in court, American law has a well-established tradition of allowing impoverished

 7   litigants to proceed in forma pauperis and bring their suit without prepayment of

 8   court fees. Accordingly, Rosa submitted a motion for leave to proceed in forma

 9   pauperis along with his complaint, requesting that the court allow him to proceed

10   without prepayment of the $402 ﬁling fee.

11          The in forma pauperis tradition in the United States builds on a long English

12   tradition of fee waivers for impoverished litigants, codiﬁed by statute in England

13   in 1495. See An Acte to Admytt Such P[er]sons as Are Poore to Sue In Forma

14   Paup[er]is, 11 Hen. 7 c. 12 (1495). The 1495 statute was preceded by a common-

     2 Incarcerated people like Rosa may well face even greater obstacles to securing the finances
     necessary to bring a claim in federal court. On average, incarcerated people earn between $0.86
     and $3.45 per day working prison jobs. Wendy Sawyer, How much do incarcerated people earn in
     each       state?,       Prison        Policy      Initiative        (Apr.        10,      2017),
     https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04/10/wages/. Imprisoned in Connecticut, Rosa
     might expect to earn between $0.75 and $1.75 per day. Conn. Gen. Assemb. Off. Legis. Rsch.,
     Inmate Wages, 2018-R-0179, at 1 (2018); see also Conn. Gen. Stat. § 18-85 (2023) (capping inmate
     pay at $10 per week).
                                                    5
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   law right to proceed in forma pauperis. See Brunt v. Wardle (1841) 133 Eng. Rep.

 2   1254, 1257; 3 Man. & G. 534, 542 (Chief Justice Tindal: “[A]fter all, is the 11 H[en].

 3   7, c. 12, any thing more than conﬁrmatory of the common law?”). Indeed, even

4    earlier, by 1295 the English ecclesiastical courts had statutorily codiﬁed an

5    expansive in forma pauperis procedure. Statuta Rob. Cantuar. Archiep. De Consistorio

 6   (1295), in 2 CONCILIA MAGNAE BRITANNIAE ET HIBERNIAE, A SYNODO

 7   VEROLAMIENSI A.D. CCCXLVI AD LONDINENSEM A.D., MCCCXLIX 206 (David

 8   Wilkins ed., 1737).

 9          Our own in forma pauperis tradition is similarly well-established. In 1892,

10   Congress codiﬁed the ability of federal courts to allow litigants to proceed in forma

11   pauperis. The language regarding eligibility for in forma pauperis status enacted by

12   this statute remains essentially the same today: litigants can proceed “without

13   being required to prepay fees or costs, or give security therefor” if the litigant

14   submitted an aﬃdavit representing that “because of his poverty, he is unable to

15   pay.” 3 Act of July 20, 1892, ch. 209, § 1, 27 Stat. 252, 252. Moreover, before this

16   federal codiﬁcation, many states had either passed in forma pauperis statutes or had

     3 By its terms, the 1892 statute extended in forma pauperis status for “plaintiffs” and “United States

     citizens” only, but the statute has been amended several times since 1892. The statute was
     amended to include appellants, Act of June 25, 1910, ch. 435, § 1, 36 Stat. 866, 866, and noncitizens,
     Act of Sept. 21, 1959, Pub. L. No. 86-320, 73 Stat. 590.
                                                       6
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   held that they had inherited in forma pauperis as part of their adoption of the

 2   English common law. John MacArthur Maguire, Poverty and Civil Litigation, 36

 3   HARV. L. REV. 361, 381-90 (1923).

 4          The federal in forma pauperis statute represents a signiﬁcant eﬀort to ensure

 5   the ability of impoverished litigants to prosecute meritorious claims or defenses

 6   without disadvantage. The Supreme Court has described the 1892 statute as

 7   aiming “to lower judicial access barriers to the indigent.” Denton v. Hernandez, 504

 8   U.S. 25, 31 (1992). The House Report accompanying the statute labels it as

 9   confronting the problem that “persons with honest claims may be defeated, and

10   doubtless often are, by wealthy adversaries.” H.R. Rep. No. 52-1079, at 1 (1892).

11   The House Report suggests that without this statute, “the Government allow[s] its

12   courts to be practically closed to its own citizens, who are conceded to have valid

13   and just rights, because they happen to be without the money to advance pay to

14   the tribunals of justice.” Id. at 2.

15          Rosa’s motion was submitted under the current in forma pauperis statute, 28

16   U.S.C. § 1915. This statute allows litigants to bring a suit “without prepayment of

17   fees or security therefor” so long as the litigant submits an aﬃdavit “that includes

18   a statement of all assets” that the litigant possesses. § 1915(a)(1). The statute has

                                              7
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   somewhat diﬀerent requirements for prisoners, reﬂecting amendments made to it

 2   as part of the 1996 Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”). As a result of these

 3   amendments, 28 U.S.C. § 1915 now requires prisoner-litigants to “submit a

 4   certiﬁed copy of the trust fund account statement . . . for the 6-month period”

 5   before the commencement of the suit. § 1915(a)(2). Additionally, prisoners are

 6   eligible only for a payment plan for court costs rather than a full waiver. § 1915(b).

 7   Nonetheless, the statute relieves prisoners, if otherwise eligible, of their obligation

 8   to prepay court fees before the court can consider the complaint received.

 9          Though the PLRA instituted substantial changes to Section 1915, it did not

10   change the substantive Section 1915(a) standard that movants must meet in order

11   to qualify for in forma pauperis status. The Supreme Court, interpreting the same

12   “unable to pay” language still found in Section 1915(a), laid out that eligibility

13   standard in Adkins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331 (1948): A litigant

14   need not be “absolutely destitute” to qualify for in forma pauperis status but need

15   demonstrate only that they “cannot because of [their] poverty pay or give security

16   for the costs and still be able to provide [themselves] and dependents with the

17   necessities of life.” Id. at 339 (internal quotations omitted); see also Potnick v. E. State

18   Hosp., 701 F.2d 243, 244 (2d Cir. 1983) (per curiam) (applying the Adkins standard

                                                  8
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   to hold that the ﬁnancial condition of a plaintiﬀ whose income was less than the

 2   federal poverty level warranted leave to proceed in forma pauperis).

 3         The PLRA did, however, require that an incarcerated movant for in forma

 4   pauperis status demonstrate that their complaint does not present an obviously

 5   fatal defect. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) (providing that “the court shall dismiss” a

 6   case in which “the allegation of poverty is untrue” or the action or appeal “is

 7   frivolous or malicious,” “fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted,” or

 8   “seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief”).

 9   Thus, a determination of whether an incarcerated movant qualiﬁes for in forma

10   pauperis status now requires district courts to engage in two distinct tasks: ﬁrst,

11   they must evaluate whether the movant has met Section 1915’s substantive

12   standard, § 1915(a), and second, they must review the merits of the movant’s

13   complaint, § 1915(e)(2).

14         Rosa moved for leave to proceed in forma pauperis by submitting the form

15   provided by the District of Connecticut Clerk’s Oﬃce for prisoners seeking to

16   proceed in forma pauperis in a civil action. The form asked, inter alia, for Rosa’s

17   income and any other sources of money, the current balance of his inmate account,

18   the total value of property that he owned, and his approximate monthly

                                              9
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   contributions to support family members.         App’x 100-02.     Rosa’s answers

 2   indicated that he had no income, supported his mother and son with monthly

 3   payments totaling $86.66, and had an account balance of $576.98 at the time of

 4   ﬁling. Rosa attached a certiﬁcation from a prison oﬃcial indicating that, over the

 5   last six months, Rosa’s inmate account had an average balance of $601.64 and

 6   average monthly deposits of $74.41. Rosa also attached screenshots showing his

 7   inmate account transactions over a period of about ten months. These screenshots

 8   show frequent debits for commissary purchases and postage and credits for

 9   inmate pay (usually between $5 and $25). The screenshots also show three much

10   larger credits for stimulus payments and several debits coded by the account

11   system as “special requests,” ranging from less than $100 to as much as $600.

12         Alongside his motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, Rosa moved for

13   the appointment of counsel under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e). As with Rosa’s in forma

14   pauperis motion, Rosa’s motion for appointment of counsel was submitted using a

15   form provided by the District of Connecticut. Both motion forms ask for detailed

16   ﬁnancial information. Rosa’s motion for appointment of counsel reaﬃrmed that

17   his income was limited, that his prison account had a balance of $576.98 at the time

18   of ﬁling, and that his mother and his son were his “dependents.” Additionally,

                                             10
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   the motion form for appointment of counsel asked for an itemized list of debts.

 2   Rosa listed more than $1,500 in debts, the vast majority of which were fees for

 3   ambulance services.

 4         The district court denied Rosa’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis on the

 5   basis of the information submitted in his motion form. The district court noted

 6   that Rosa reported receiving $1,200 in income from federal COVID stimulus funds

 7   and had an average balance of about $600 over the last six months in his prison

 8   account. The district court further noted that “[a]s a prisoner, Rosa does not pay

 9   for room or board.” App’x 123-24. Following previous decisions of the District of

10   Connecticut, the district court evidently concluded that the prison provided Rosa’s

11   necessities of life. Accordingly, because Rosa’s inmate account contained more

12   than the $402 required to pay the ﬁling fee, and because Rosa’s room and board

13   were provided by the prison, the district court held that it could “discern no reason

14   why requiring Rosa to pay the ﬁling fee of $402 would force him to forego the

15   necessities of life or abandon this action.” App’x 124.

16         Rosa ﬁled several additional documents with the district court contesting

17   this ruling. In these ﬁlings, Rosa provided further details of his ﬁnancial situation.

18   He responded to the district court’s analysis of his receipt of stimulus funds by

                                              11
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   explaining that he sent those funds to his mother and son to pay for their housing

 2   and other necessities. The district court construed Rosa’s additional ﬁlings as a

 3   motion for reconsideration and denied the motion. 4 On reconsideration, the

 4   district court noted that the federal stimulus funds Rosa received were “more than

 5   enough to pay the ﬁling fee” and concluded that “[w]hile the desire to help his

 6   family is admirable, plaintiﬀ still made a choice to do so rather than paying the

7    ﬁling fee.” App’x 148.

 8          Rosa timely appealed to this Court. 5 On appeal, Rosa argues that the district

 9   court erred in requiring Rosa to choose between spending his funds on his family’s

10   necessities of life and using that money to ﬁle this suit. Rosa further argues that

11   the district court erred in concluding that the prison provided his necessities of

12   life. On these facts, Rosa contends that the record demonstrates that his ﬁnancial

13   condition meets Section 1915(a)’s standard. We agree with Rosa, reverse the

14   district court’s order and remand for further proceedings.

     4 Until this point in the litigation, the case had been before Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, who issued

     the initial ruling on Rosa’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis. The case was then transferred to
     Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam, who ruled on the motion for reconsideration.
     5 We appointed counsel for purposes of this appeal.

                                                    12
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1                                       DISCUSSION

 2         We have jurisdiction over this appeal because a district court order denying

 3   an application to proceed in forma pauperis is immediately appealable. See Fischer

 4   v. N.Y. State Dep’t of L., 812 F.3d 268, 275 (2d Cir. 2016) (citing Roberts v. U.S. Dist.

 5   Ct., 339 U.S. 844, 845 (1950)). Additionally, Rosa’s motion for reconsideration was

 6   ﬁled within twenty-eight days of the underlying ﬁnal judgment. Fed. R. App. P.

 7   4(a)(4)(A)(vi). As a result, on appeal, we review both the district court’s ruling on

 8   reconsideration and the underlying ﬁnal judgment. Fed. R. App. P. 3(c)(5)(B); cf.

 9   Bailey v. Interbay Funding, LLC, No. 21-146, 2022 WL 852851 (2d Cir. Mar. 23, 2022)

10   (reviewing only the ruling on reconsideration where a movant’s reconsideration

11   motion was ﬁled more than three months after the underlying ﬁnal judgment).

12         We review the denial of a motion to proceed in forma pauperis for abuse of

13   discretion. See Potnick, 701 F.2d at 244. “An abuse of discretion exists if the district

14   court (1) based its ruling on an erroneous view of the law, (2) made a clearly

15   erroneous assessment of the evidence, or (3) rendered a decision that cannot be

16   located within the range of permissible decisions.” City of New York v. Golden

17   Feather Smoke Shop, Inc., 597 F.3d 115, 119-20 (2d Cir. 2010) (internal quotations and

18   citations omitted).

                                                13
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1                                                  I

 2          As a preliminary matter, the State of Connecticut argues for aﬃrmance of

 3   the district court’s orders on the ground that, for procedural reasons, we cannot

 4   consider Rosa’s argument that he spent funds to support his family members. 6

 5   Connecticut presents two arguments: (1) that Rosa improperly “attempt[s] to

 6   present new facts” in his motion for reconsideration in describing that he sent the

 7   stimulus funds he received to his dependents, Conn. Br. 16, and (2) that this Court

 8   can only consider facts, and arguments reliant on facts, listed in the aﬃdavit

 9   required by Section 1915(a), Conn. Br. 20-22.

10          We disagree. The in forma pauperis law is not meant to be a series of traps

11   and travails for pro se litigants, nor does it aim to dismiss potentially meritorious

12   arguments because of the particularities of federal practice. And “[i]t is well

13   established that a court is ordinarily obligated to aﬀord a special solicitude to pro

14   se litigants.” Tracy v. Freshwater, 623 F.3d 90, 101 (2d Cir. 2010) (citing Estelle v.

15   Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 106 (1976)). This special solicitude “most often consists of

16   liberal construction of pleadings, motion papers, and appellate briefs,” id. at 101

     6 The State of Connecticut would have represented the various defendants had process been

     served in this case. Because process has not been served, Connecticut appeared at this stage only
     as an amicus. Brief Amicus Curiae State of Connecticut in Support of Affirmance at 1 (hereinafter
     “Conn. Br.”).
                                                    14
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   (citing Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam)), and includes leniency

 2   in the application of procedural rules, LeSane v. Hall's Sec. Analyst, Inc., 239 F.3d

 3   206, 209 (2d Cir. 2001). 7 See generally Tracy, 623 F.3d at 101-02 (collecting cases

 4   aﬀording procedural leniency to pro se litigants).

 5          Here, “construed liberally and interpreted to raise the strongest arguments

 6   that they suggest,” Triestman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 470 F.3d 471, 474 (2d Cir.

 7   2006) (internal quotations and citations omitted), Rosa’s submissions certainly

 8   present the claim that Rosa needed funds to support his family and had a history

 9   of supporting his family. Rosa listed his mother and son as dependents on his

10   motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and again on his motion for

11   appointment of counsel. Rosa’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis listed

12   monthly payments he made to support his mother and son. And the screenshots

13   of his inmate account show withdrawals in amounts similar to those that Rosa

14   claimed as the monthly support he provided his mother and son. Liberally

15   construing the pattern of debits to Rosa’s inmate account from funds sent to his

     7 We are especially loathe to construe strictly procedural rules against a pro se litigant where the

     motion in question was submitted according to a form provided by the court. If, as here, the form
     fails to ask for potentially relevant information, it would be perverse to hold that failure against
     the litigant. As the author of the form, the court can easily add additional instructions or
     questions ensuring that necessary information is submitted. A litigant who earnestly responds
     to the questions that the court asks should not be penalized by the court’s failure to ask for basic
     information the court in fact requires.s
                                                     15
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   mother and son, we hold that Rosa’s assertion that he utilized his inmate account

 2   funds to support his dependents was suﬃciently presented in Rosa’s original

 3   motion. 8

 4                                                 II

 5          We turn next to the issue of whether the district court properly analyzed

 6   Rosa’s motion under Section 1915(a)’s standard. Rosa ﬁrst argues that the district

 7   court erred in limiting its analysis to his own necessities of life and failing to

 8   consider his dependents’ necessities of life in its Section 1915(a) determination. On

 9   reconsideration, the district court recognized that Rosa’s choice to send funds to

10   his family members was “admirable,” but noted that those funds could have

11   instead been used to pay the costs of his suit. App’x 148. Rosa contends that this

12   was error because Section 1915(a)’s substantive standard contemplates that the

13   necessities of life of the movant and those of his dependents are to be considered

14   in determining in forma pauperis eligibility.

15          We agree with Rosa. An in forma pauperis motion meets Section 1915(a)’s

16   standard when it demonstrates that the applicant cannot “pay or give security for

     8 Because we find that Rosa’s original motion and accompanying affidavit sufficiently raised the

     arguments in question, we need not consider whether a court can consider information submitted
     outside the affidavit required by Section 1915(a).
                                                   16
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   the costs and still be able to provide himself and dependents with the necessities of

 2   life.” Adkins, 335 U.S. at 339 (emphasis added) (internal quotations omitted). To

 3   require in forma pauperis applicants to “have sworn to contribute to payment of

 4   costs[] the last dollar they have . . . and thus make themselves and their

 5   dependents wholly destitute[] would be to construe the statute in a way that

 6   would throw its beneﬁciaries into the category of public charges.” Id. Adkins

 7   explicitly acknowledges that others might ﬁnancially depend on litigants and thus

 8   incorporates support of dependents into the Section 1915(a) standard. The district

 9   court thus erred in denying Rosa in forma pauperis status without considering his

10   dependents’ necessities of life.

11         Connecticut argues that Rosa’s claims that his mother is a dependent and

12   that he sent her funds to help her pay rent are implausible because she is non-

13   elderly and because there was a federal eviction moratorium in place at the time.

14   Conn. Br. 33-34. Connecticut’s argument would have us apply a level of factual

15   skepticism to Rosa’s aﬃdavit that the Supreme Court disfavors in Section 1915(a)

16   analyses.     See Adkins, 335 U.S. at 339 (providing that allegations made in

17   satisfaction of Section 1915’s procedural requirements “should ordinarily be

18   accepted . . . particularly where unquestioned and where the judge does not

                                              17
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   perceive a ﬂagrant misrepresentation”). Here, Connecticut's challenges are based

 2   on unsupported speculation that we ﬁnd unpersuasive. Thus, we accept Rosa’s

 3   claims for purposes of the Section 1915(a) evaluation.

 4         Connecticut further notes that no prior court has addressed whether a

 5   movant’s parents may qualify as Adkins dependents. Conn. Br. 33-34. It is

 6   unnecessary for us to determine the outer bounds of who may be considered a

 7   dependent to resolve this case. Because of the unrestricted usage of the word

 8   “dependent” in Adkins and Congress’s broad intent to enable poor litigants to

 9   access the courts in enacting this statute, at a minimum, immediate family

10   members such as parents must be understood to qualify.             Moreover, any

11   reasonable deﬁnition of dependent includes the potential for dependent parents.

12   See, e.g., 26 U.S.C. § 152 (deﬁning the word “dependent” for tax code purposes as

13   “(1) a qualifying child, or (2) a qualifying relative” who meets certain statutory

14   criteria); Dependent, WEBSTER’S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY 604 (1966)

15   (deﬁning “dependent” as “one relying on another for support”).

16         Second, Rosa argues that the district court erred by failing to consider that

17   Rosa, while incarcerated, might nonetheless require funds for his own necessities

18   of life. Appellant’s Br. 20-23. Connecticut instead contends that it provides

                                             18
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   prisoners like Rosa with all the necessities of life. Conn. Br. 23-27. And it was on

 2   this basis that the district court denied in forma pauperis status. The court found

 3   that the prison provided for Rosa’s room and board and considered no other

 4   necessities that Rosa might require. On reconsideration, the district court likewise

 5   failed to discuss any necessities that might require Rosa’s funds. In view of this

 6   holding, the court concluded that any funds in Rosa’s inmate account were not

 7   required for Rosa’s necessities of life.

 8         This was error. Despite their incarceration, prisoners maintain their own,

 9   often complex, economic lives. Adkins explains that the aim of in forma pauperis

10   status is to prevent individuals from becoming “public charges” because of the

11   costs of a suit. Adkins, 335 U.S. at 339. It made clear that it would be anathema to

12   the statute’s purpose of “lower[ing] judicial access barriers to the indigent,”

13   Denton, 504 U.S. at 31, to require litigants to choose between bringing a suit and

14   meeting their familial support or loan payment obligations. But, in addition—and

15   implicit in what the reasoning of Adkins asks courts to recognize—prisoners may

16   well have ﬁnancial obligations that warrant consideration in a Section 1915(a)

17   evaluation: medical debts, court ﬁnes, student loans, support orders, among other

18   examples. Moreover, prisons all too frequently fail to provide necessary hygiene

                                                19
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   essentials and often charge substantial rates for postage and phone calls that

 2   prisoners need to maintain relationships with family and friends. 9

 3           It follows that an inquiry into whether a movant meets Section 1915(a)’s

 4   standard may not simply presume that, because incarceration provides food and

 5   lodging, the movant does not need any ﬁnancial resources to secure necessities.

 6   And a court may not simply assume that an incarcerated movant with more than

 7   $402 in their inmate account requires no resources for their own necessities of life

 8   and hence is ineligible for in forma pauperis status. Courts must instead carefully

 9   consider whether the motion and the attached inmate account details demonstrate

10   a need for the applicant to maintain some of their own funds for necessities.

11                                                        III

12           Having found that the district court erred because prisoners like Rosa may

13   still have economic needs and because Adkins understands Section 1915(a)’s

14   standard to consider support for dependents, we turn to Rosa’s contention that his

15   motion in fact meets Section 1915(a)’s standard. We hold that it does and, in

     9 See Tiana Herring, For the poorest people in prison, it’s a struggle to access even basic necessities,

     Prison Policy Initiative (Nov. 18, 2021),
     https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/11/18/indigence/; Timothy Williams, The High
     Cost of Calling the Imprisoned, New York Times (Mar. 30, 2015)
     https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/us/steep-costs-of-inmate-phone-calls-are-under-
     scrutiny.html.
                                                          20
     21-2628 (L)
     Rosa v. Doe
 1   particular, that Rosa demonstrated that his ﬁnancial condition precludes him from

 2   prepaying the costs of this suit while still providing the necessities of life for

 3   himself and his dependents.

 4         Rosa’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis demonstrated that he supported

 5   his family members with monthly payments of $86.66. At the time the motion was

 6   ﬁled, Rosa’s inmate account had a balance of $576.98. Though the in forma pauperis

 7   form that the court provided failed to inquire into Rosa’s debts, his motion for the

 8   appointment of counsel lists more than $1,500 in debt. If denied in forma pauperis

 9   status, Rosa would be left with less than $200 in his inmate account to pay for

10   service of process and any other future costs associated with this suit, as well as

11   his debts and support of his dependents. As this court has held, “Section 1915(a)

12   does not require a litigant to demonstrate absolute destitution; no party must be

13   made to choose between abandoning a potentially meritorious claim or foregoing

14   the necessities of life.” Potnick, 701 F.2d at 244 (citing Adkins, 335 U.S. at 339).

15         Though Rosa would not be immediately destitute if required to pay the $402

16   ﬁling fee, he has nonetheless established that he cannot pay the costs associated

17   with this suit and still provide the necessities of life for himself and his

18   dependents. Accordingly, we reverse the district court and direct the court to

                                                21
    21-2628 (L)
    Rosa v. Doe
1   consider whether Rosa, having met the standard of Section 1915(a), meets Section

2   1915’s other requirements and is thus deserving of in forma pauperis status.

3                                    CONCLUSION

4         For the foregoing reasons, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court,

5   and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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