Aguilar v. Imperial County Board of Supervisors
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Ruth Bermudez Montenegro (author)
Analysis
The court considered a pro se prisoner's civil rights complaint, application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), and motions for injunctive relief. The court denied the IFP application for failure to include a certified trust account statement, dismissed the action without prejudice, and denied the injunctive relief motions as moot.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Denial of Plaintiff's Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis (IFP)“Therefore, Plaintiff’s IFP Application is DENIED, and this action is DISMISSED without prejudice.” | agree with court The court correctly applied 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2), which mandates that a prisoner seeking IFP status must submit a certified copy of their trust fund account statement for the preceding six months. Because the plaintiff failed to provide this required document, the court could not assess the initial partial filing fee required by § 1915(b)(1). Denial of the IFP application is the proper procedural consequence when the statutory prerequisites are not met. |
Dismissal of Civil Action Without Prejudice“Therefore, Plaintiff’s IFP Application is DENIED, and this action is DISMISSED without prejudice.” | agree with court Under 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) and Ninth Circuit precedent (Hymas v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior), a civil action cannot proceed if the filing fee is not paid and IFP status is denied. Dismissing the case without prejudice allows the plaintiff to refile upon payment of the fee or proper IFP application, which is the standard remedy for failure to pay fees. |
Denial of Plaintiff's Motions for Injunctive Relief as Moot“Therefore, Plaintiff’s preliminary injunction motions are moot.” | agree with court Preliminary injunctions are ancillary to the main action. Because the underlying complaint was dismissed for failure to pay fees, there is no operative case to support the injunctive relief. Denying the motions as moot is procedurally correct. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally sound. It correctly identifies the statutory requirements for IFP status under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and applies them to the plaintiff's failure to provide the certified trust account statement. The dismissal without prejudice and the denial of injunctive relief as moot follow logically from the dismissal of the underlying action. The court cites appropriate binding authority from the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 LOUIE AGUILAR, JR., Case No.: 3:25-cv-00538-RBM-DDL #25000185, 12 ORDER: Plaintiff, 13 vs. (1) DENYING PLAINTIFF’S IFP 14 APPLICATION [Doc. 2]
15 IMPERIAL COUNTY BOARD OF (2) DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION 16 SUPERVISORS; JOHN DOE #1, Deputy WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR 17 Sheriff; JOHN DOE #2, Deputy Sheriff; FAILURE TO PAY FILING FEES JOHN DOE #3, Deputy Sheriff, 18 (3) DENYING PLAINTIFF’S 19 Defendants. MOTIONS FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AS MOOT [Docs. 6, 8] 20 21 22 On March 6, 2025, Louie Aguilar, Jr. (“Plaintiff”), a detainee proceeding pro se, 23 filed a Complaint for Violation of Civil Rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 24 (“Complaint”). (Doc. 1 at 1, 3.) Plaintiff also filed an Application to Proceed in District 25 Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (“IFP Application”). (Doc. 2.) 26 Before the Court could review Plaintiff’s IFP Application or screen Plaintiff’s 27 Complaint, Plaintiff filed several letters (Docs. 3–5), a Motion for Injunctive Relief (Doc. 28 1 6), an Amended Complaint (Doc. 7), and a second Motion for Injunctive Relief (Doc. 8). 2 For the reasons discussed below, the Court (1) DENIES Plaintiff’s IFP Application; (2) 3 DISMISSES this action without prejudice; and (3) DENIES Plaintiff’s motions for 4 injunctive relief (Docs. 6, 8) without prejudice. 5 II. IFP APPLICATION 6 All parties instituting any civil action, suit, or proceeding in a District Court of the 7 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 8 $405. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must 9 pay an additional administrative fee of $55. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference 10 Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2023). The 11 additional $55 administrative fee does not apply to persons granted leave to proceed in 12 forma pauperis (“IFP”). Id. 13 The action may proceed despite a failure to pay the entire fee at the time of filing if 14 the court grants the Plaintiff leave to proceed IFP under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). Andrews v. 15 Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007). “[W]here [an] IFP application is denied 16 altogether, Plaintiff’s case [cannot] proceed unless and until the fee [is] paid.” Hymas v. 17 U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 73 F.4th 763, 765 (9th Cir. 2023) 18 To proceed IFP, prisoners must “submit[] an affidavit that includes a statement of 19 all assets [they] possess[,]” as well as “a certified copy of the[ir] trust fund account 20 statement (or institutional equivalent) for … the 6-month period immediately preceding the 21 filing of the complaint … .” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), (2); see also Andrews v. King, 398 22 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005) (“[P]risoners must demonstrate that they are not able to 23 pay the filing fee with an affidavit and submission of their prison trust account records … 24 .”). “The [C]ourt shall [then] assess and, when funds exist, collect, as a partial payment of 25 any court fees required by law, an initial partial filing fee of 20 percent of the greater of– 26 (A) the average monthly deposits to the prisoner's account; or (B) the average monthly 27 balance in the prisoner’s account for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing 28 1 of the complaint … .” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). In short, while prisoners may qualify to 2 proceed IFP without having to pay the full statutory filing upfront, they remain obligated 3 to pay the full amount due in monthly payments. See Bruce v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 4 (2016); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)–(2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 5 2002). 6 Here, Plaintiff has not included a certified copy of his trust account statement for the 7 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of his Complaint. Without a certified 8 trust account statement, the Court is unable to assess whether an initial partial filing fee is 9 required to initiate the prosecution of Plaintiff’s case. Therefore, Plaintiff’s IFP 10 Application is DENIED, and this action is DISMISSED without prejudice. 11 III. MOTIONS FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF 12 Plaintiff’s motions for preliminary injunctive relief are also DENIED as moot 13 without prejudice. (Docs. 6, 8.) In these motions, Plaintiff appears to seek an order from 14 this Court directing “the entire jail to not intervene w[ith] Plaintiff litigating [his case]” and 15 to “comply with legal mail procedures.” (Doc. 6 at 4; Doc. 8 at 3.) However, Plaintiff 16 now has “no operative complaint on which to base [his] preliminary injunction motions.” 17 Cupp v. Harris, No. 2:16-cv-00523-TLN-KJN, 2018 WL 4904819, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 18 9, 2018). Therefore, Plaintiff’s preliminary injunction motions are moot. See, e.g., Malek 19 v. Valentia Apartments, LLC, Case No.: 24cv2076-LL-BLM, 2025 WL 790961, at *1 (S.D. 20 Cal. Mar. 12, 2025) (denying motions, including a motion for preliminary injunction, as 21 moot where such motions we all based on “the now-inoperative complaint”) (citations 22 omitted). 23 IV. CONCLUSION 24 Based on the foregoing, the Court (1) DENIES Plaintiff’s IFP Application (Doc. 2); 25 (2) DISMISSES this action without prejudice; and (3) DENIES Plaintiff’s motions for 26 preliminary injunctive relief (Docs. 6, 8) without prejudice as moot. 27 To proceed with this action, Plaintiff must (a) prepay the entire $405 civil filing and 28 1 || administrative fee in one lump sum or (b) file a renewed IFP Application, which includes 2 ||a prison certificate, signed by a trust accounting official attesting as to his trust account 3 ||balances and deposits, and/or a certified copy of his Inmate Statement Report for the 6- 4 ||month period preceding the filing of his Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and 5 ||S.D. Cal. Civ. R. 3.2(b) on or before July 2, 2025. 6 If Plaintiff chooses not to comply with this Order by either paying the $405 civil 7 || filing and administrative fees or by submitting a properly supported IFP Application, this 8 will remain dismissed without prejudice without further order of the Court based on 9 || Plaintiff's failure to comply with 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 ||Dated: May 21, 2025 FR Be ? L > 12 HON. RUTH BERMUDEZ MONTENEGRO 13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ANE .. ANEX0 DDAAT TMNT