Opinion
3:23-cv-95-KAP
06-01-2023
SHYAM PRANAMI GOULI, Petitioner v. STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, et al., Respondents
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Keith A. Pesto, United States Magistrate Judge
Petitioner, an inmate at the Clearfield County Jail, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C.§ 2254 at ECF no. 1 and motions to proceed in forma pauperis at ECF no. 5 and ECF no. 6, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. That court transferred the matter here. The Clerk will correct the spelling of the petitioner's name and add his booking number to his address.
The motions to proceed in forma pauperis, ECF no. 5 and ECF no. 6, are denied. The Clerk shall assign this matter to a District Judge with the reference back to me. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C.§ 636(b)(1)(A), petitioner can within fourteen days file an appeal or objections from this order to the presiding District Judge, or he can withdraw his motion to proceed ifp and indicate that he will pay the filing fee and costs of service.
Petitioner's inmate account statement indicates that the most recent balance in his inmate account is $1883.16. He does not need to proceed in forma pauperis.
As an inmate petitioner does not pay for housing or food, and his motion and account statement indicate that he has no dependents. Paying the filing fee and costs of service will not, on this record, deprive petitioner of any necessity of life, access to court, or even the amenities available in the commissary. Congress's in forma pauperis statute ensures that litigants have access to court: it does not relieve an inmate litigant from making the same choices about spending that non-inmate litigants must make.