Opinion
3:23-cv-00518-ART-CSD
10-26-2023
DANE FLY, Plaintiff v. STATE OF NEVADA, et al., Defendants
ORDER
On October 24, 2023, pro se plaintiff Dane Fly, an inmate in the custody of the Nevada Department of Corrections, submitted a document titled, in part, “Motion for Leave to File 42 U.S.C. 1983 Violations of Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments[.]” (ECF No. 3-1). The Court construes the document as a civil-rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 because it is legible, contains substantially all the information called for by the court's form civil-rights complaint, and has been personally signed by Plaintiff. See Nev. Loc. R. LSR 2-1; see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 (a). But Plaintiff has neither paid the full $402 filing fee for this action nor filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis. Plaintiff, however, has submitted a financial certificate that is properly signed both by the Plaintiff and a prison official and a copy of his prison trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. (ECF No. 3-3).
The United States District Court for the District of Nevada must collect filing fees from parties initiating civil actions. 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The fee for filing a civil-rights action is $402, which includes the $350 filing fee and the $52 administrative fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(b). “Any person who is unable to prepay the fees in a civil case may apply to the court for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.” Nev. Loc. R. LSR 1-1. For an inmate to apply for in forma pauperis status, the inmate must submit all three of the following documents to the Court: (1) a completed Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate, which is pages 1-3 of the Court's approved form, that is properly signed by the inmate twice on page 3; (2) a completed Financial Certificate, which is page 4 of the Court's approved form, that is properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official; and (3) a copy of the inmate's prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1)-(2); Nev. Loc. R. LSR 1-2.
It is therefore ordered that Plaintiff has until November 27, 2023, to either pay the full $402 filing fee or file with the Court a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis with the inmate's two signatures on page 3.
Plaintiff is cautioned that this action will be subject to dismissal without prejudice if Plaintiff fails to timely comply with this order. A dismissal without prejudice allows Plaintiff to refile the case with the Court, under a new case number, when Plaintiff can file a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the required filing fee.
The Clerk of the Court is directed to send Plaintiff Dane Fly the approved form application to proceed in forma pauperis for an inmate and instructions for the same and retain the complaint and exhibits (ECF Nos. 3-1, 3-2) but not file them at this time.