Opinion
CIVIL ACTION No. 03-CV-3565.
July 7, 2003
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Presently before the Court is a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis filed by pro se Plaintiff Leslie Ann Kelly ("Plaintiff"). Plaintiff's Complaint appears to allege a variety of claims against numerous named Defendants, the grounds for which appear to be several civil rights violations. Plaintiff now seeks permission to file her claim in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. For the following reasons, Plaintiff's Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis is GRANTED and her Complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
Under § 1915(a), a Court can allow a litigant to proceed without the prepayment of the required filing fee upon a showing of indigence. Deutsch v. United States, 67 F.3d 1080, 1084 n. 5 (3d Cir. 1995). In evaluating Plaintiff's Motion and accompanying Complaint, this Court follows the two-prong test set forth by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Roman v. Jeffes, 904 F.2d 192 (3d Cir. 1990). First, "the district court evaluates a litigant's financial status and determines whether (she) is eligible to proceed . . . under § 1915(a)." Id. at 194 n. 1. The second step for the court is to "assess the complaint under [§ 1915(e)(2)(B) (i)] to determine whether it is frivolous." Id. After reviewing Plaintiff's application, this Court finds that she qualifies as indigent, and her Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis is GRANTED.
However, Plaintiff's Complaint must be dismissed as frivolous under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). A claim is frivolous when "it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact." Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327 (1989). Claims are properly dismissed as frivolous under this standard when they are based on an indisputably meritless legal theory or when the contentions made are clearly baseless. Deutsch, 67 F.3d at 1085. In her one-and-one-half-page handwritten Complaint, Plaintiff fails to allege with specificity any facts that would support her claims of civil rights violations. Because Plaintiff's pro se Complaint contains insufficient factual support and even the most liberal reading of her Complaint could not bring forth a meritorious legal theory for this action, we find that it is frivolous and warrants dismissal. Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis is GRANTED and Plaintiff's Complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
It is FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's styled "motions" submitted to this Court, one on each of June 20, 2003, June 23, 2003, June 26, 2003, and two on June 25, 2003, as well as a copy of a letter dated June 30, 2003 addressed to Mayor John Street and submitted to this Court, are DISMISSED AS MOOT.