Opinion
2:15-cv-00135-WBS-EFB (PC)
04-24-2024
JAMES CUMMINS, Plaintiff, v. OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER, Defendant.
ORDER
EDMUND F. BRENNAN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Plaintiff is a state prisoner who brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court granted him leave to proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 on September 10, 2015. ECF No. 10. The action proceeded through judgment, which was entered on July 20, 2016. ECF No. 21. Plaintiff now seeks relief from his obligation to pay the filing fee. ECF No. 22.
Section 1915(a) authorizes courts to grant in forma pauperis status to prisoners who cannot prepay the filing fee for a civil action. Section 1915(b) requires, however, that prisoners who proceed in forma pauperis pay the full fee incrementally. The statute makes no provision by which the court may relieve a prisoner from this obligation to pay the fee. Johnson v. Darr, No. 10cv2334-WQH-POR, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149486, at *2 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 31, 2018) (noting that nothing in § 1915 provides for waiver of full payment of the filing fee or the return of any portion of the fee already paid and collecting cases). See Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 851 (9th Cir. 2002) (holding that § 1915(b) does not violate a prisoner's rights to access the courts and to equal protection).
Accordingly, plaintiff's March 1, 2024 motion for relief from his obligation to pay the filing fee (ECF No. 22) is DENIED.