Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 SOPHIA NOELL CHRISTOPHER, Case No.: 3:25-cv-2838-CAB-SBC Booking No. 25728110, 12 ORDER: Plaintiff, 13 (1) DENYING MOTION TO vs. PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 14 AND 15 LAS COLINAS DETENTION FACILITY, (2) DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION 16 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, STATE OF WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR 17 CALIFORNIA, U.S. GOVERNMENT, FAILURE TO PAY FILING FEES PORSHA SNOW, CORPORAL NANESS, REQUIRED BY 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) 18 DEPUTY PARADA, CORPORAL 19 MOSKLEVA, [Doc. No. 2] 20 Defendants. 21 22 Sophia Noell Christopher (“Plaintiff”), a detainee proceeding pro se, has filed a civil 23 rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. [Doc. No. 1]. In lieu of paying the filing 24 fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), Plaintiff has also filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma 25 Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). [Doc. No. 2.] For the reasons discussed 26 below, the Court denies Plaintiff’s IFP motion and dismisses the action without prejudice. 27 I. IFP MOTION 28 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 1 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 2 $405.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed despite a failure to pay the entire 3 fee at the time of filing only if the court grants the Plaintiff leave to proceed IFP pursuant 4 to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); 5 cf. Hymas v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 73 F.4th 763, 765 (9th Cir. 2023) (“[W]here the 6 IFP application is denied altogether, Plaintiff’s case [cannot] proceed unless and until the 7 fee[s] [a]re paid.”). 8 To proceed IFP, prisoners must “submit[] an affidavit that includes a statement of 9 all assets [they] possess[,]” as well as “a “certified copy of the[ir] trust fund account 10 statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 6-month period immediately preceding 11 the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), (2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 12 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). Using this financial information, the court “assess[es] and when 13 funds exist, collect[s], . . . an initial partial filing fee,” which is “calculated based on ‘the 14 average monthly deposits to the prisoner’s account’ or ‘the average monthly balance in the 15 prisoner’s account’ over a 6-month term; the remainder of the fee is to be paid in ‘monthly 16 payments of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited to the prisoner’s 17 account.” Hymas, 73 F.4th at 767 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)–(2)). In short, while 18 prisoners may qualify to proceed IFP without having to pay the full statutory filing upfront, 19 they remain obligated to pay the full amount due in monthly payments. See Bruce v. 20 Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 (2016); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 21 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 22 Here, Plaintiff’s IFP Motion is incomplete because she has not included a certified 23 copy of her trust account statement for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing 24 of her Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); CivLR 3.2. Without a certified trust account 25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative fee of 27 $55. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2023). The additional $55 administrative fee does not apply to persons 28 1 || statement, the Court is unable to assess whether any initial partial filing fee may be required 2 || to initiate the prosecution of Plaintiff’s case. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). 3 Hl. CONCLUSION AND ORDER 4 Accordingly, the Court: 5 (1) DENIES Plaintiff's Motion to Proceed IFP, [Doc. No. 2], and DISMISSES 6 action without prejudice. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(a) & 1914(a). 7 (2) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days from the date this Order to re-open 8 || her case by either: (a) prepaying the entire $405 civil filing and administrative fee in one 9 ||lump-sum; or (b) filing a renewed Motion to Proceed IFP, which includes a prison 10 || certificate, signed by a trust accounting official attesting as to her trust account balances 11 || and deposits and/or a certified copy of her Inmate Statement Report for the 6-month period 12 || preceding the filing of her Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) and CivLR 3.2(b). 13 If Plaintiff chooses not to comply with this Order by either paying the $405 civil 14 || filing fee and administrative fee in full by or submitting a properly supported IFP Motion 15 || within forty-five (45) days, this case will remain dismissed without prejudice and without 16 || further order of the Court based on Plaintiff’s failure to comply with 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 17 (3) DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to provide Plaintiff with a Court-approved form 18 “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed /n Forma Pauperis.” 19 It is SO ORDERED. 20 21 ||Dated: December 18, 2025 © 22 Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo 23 United States District Judge 24 25 26 27 28