Opinion
Case No. CV614-027
04-25-2014
DIANNE WATERS, Plaintiff, v. CAROLYN W COLVIN, Commissioner of SSA, Defendant.
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Plaintiff Dianne Waters seeks leave to file, without prepayment of the Court's filing fee, her social security appeal. Doc. 2. The Court will grant leave to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) if the plaintiff demonstrates that she cannot, because of poverty, afford to pay the costs of litigation and still provide for herself and any dependents. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a); Adkins v. E.I. Dupont de Nemours, 335 U.S. 331, 339 (1948); Martinez v. Kristi Kleaners, Inc., 364 F.3d 1305, 1307 (11th Cir. 2007). Waters need not be absolutely destitute in order to proceed IFP, but the fact that financing her own litigation may cause some difficulty is not sufficient to relieve her of her obligation to pay her own way where it is possible for her to do so without undue hardship. Adkins, 335 U.S. at 339-340.
Waters lists her joint marital income as $5,870 a month with $3,343 in monthly expenses, no debts, and two vehicles (a 2005 Chevrolet Suburban and a 1997 Chevrolet truck) owned outright. Doc. 2 at 1-5. She also discloses $2,300 in savings. Id. at 2. In that she is able to pay the Court's filing fee, her IFP motion should be DENIED. Doc. 2.
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UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA