Opinion
21cv1762-CAB (JLB)
10-14-2021
PEDRO RODRIGUEZ, BOOKING #14745493, Plaintiffs, v. GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM, et al., Defendants.
ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR FAILING TO PAY FILING FEE REQUIRED BY 28 U.S.C. § 1914(A) AND/OR FAILING TO MOVE TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(A)
HON. CATHY ANN BENCIVENGO UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff Pedro Rodriguez, a person detained at the San Diego County Central Jail and proceeding pro se, has filed a civil right complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff has not prepaid the $400 civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) and has not filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a).
I. Failure to Pay Filing Fee or Request IFP Status
All parties instituting any civil action in a district court of the United States, except a petition for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of $402, and the action may proceed despite a failure to prepay the entire fee only if leave to proceed IFP is granted 1 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007). Section 1915(a)(2) requires prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP to submit a “certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(h) (defining a “prisoner” as “any person” who at the time of filing is “incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms or conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program.”) From the certified trust account statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of 20% of (a) the average monthly deposits in the account for the past six months, or (b) the average monthly balance in the account for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (4). The institution collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20% of the preceding month's income, in any month in which the account exceeds $10, and forwards those payments to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). Plaintiff remains obligated to pay the entire fee in monthly installments regardless of whether their action is ultimately dismissed. Bruce v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 (2016); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002).
In addition to a $350 fee, civil litigants, other than those granted leave to proceed IFP, must pay an additional administrative fee of $52. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2020)).
Because Plaintiff has neither paid the filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) to commence a civil action, nor filed a Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), his case cannot proceed at this time. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); Andrews, 493 F.3d at 1051. 2
II. Conclusion and Order
Accordingly, the Court:
(1) DISMISSES this action without prejudice based on Plaintiffs failure to pay the filing fee or file a Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a) and 1915(a).
(2) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days leave from the date this Order is filed to: (a) prepay the entire civil filing fee in full; or (b) complete and file a Motion to Proceed IFP. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2(b).
(3) DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to provide Plaintiff with the Court's approved form “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis.”[ If Plaintiff fails to either prepay the civil filing fee or fully complete and submit the enclosed Motion to Proceed IFP within 45 days, this action will remain dismissed without prejudice based on his failure to satisfy 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a)'s fee requirement and without further Order of the Court.
Plaintiff is cautioned that if he chooses to proceed further by submitting a properly supported Motion to Proceed IFP, his Complaint will be screened before service and may be dismissed sua sponte pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). 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).
IT IS SO ORDERED. 3