Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ABER HAYNES LISTER, Case No.: 3:26-cv-00226-JAH-MSB Booking No. 25712878, 12 ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL Plaintiff, 13 ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE vs. FOR FAILING TO PAY 14 FILING FEE AND/OR FAILING 15 TO MOVE TO PROCEED CINDY DAVIS, Judge, et al., IN FORMA PAUPERIS 16 Defendants. 17 18 19 Plaintiff Aber Haynes Lister, while detained at San Diego Central Jail, and 20 proceeding without counsel, filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 21 (See Compl., ECF No. 1.) Lister seeks $12 million in damages based on claims that he 22 has been denied a fair trial and has been subject to several vindictive San Diego Superior 23 Court criminal prosecutions. (Id. at 2–5, 7.) For the reasons explained, the Court 24 dismisses the action sua sponte without prejudice. 25 I. Failure to Pay Filing Fee or to File In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) Motion 26 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 27 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 28 /// 1 $405. An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to pay the entire fee only if he 2 seeks and the court grants him leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See 3 Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); Hymas v. U.S. Dep’t of the 4 Interior, 73 F.4th 763, 765 (9th Cir. 2023) (“[W]here [an] IFP application is denied 5 altogether, Plaintiff’s case [cannot] proceed unless and until the fee[s] [a]re paid.”). 6 “While the previous version of the IFP statute granted courts the authority to waive 7 fees for any person ‘unable to pay[,]’ … the PLRA [Prison Litigation Reform Act] 8 amended the IFP statute to include a carve-out for prisoners: under the current version of 9 the IFP statute, ‘if a prisoner brings a civil action or files an appeal in forma pauperis, the 10 prisoner shall be required to pay the full amount of a filing fee.’” Hymas, 73 F.4th at 767 11 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)). Section 1915(b) “provides a structured timeline for 12 collecting this fee.” Id. (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)-(2)). 13 Therefore, to proceed IFP, prisoners like Plaintiff must “submit[] an affidavit that 14 includes a statement of all assets [they] possess[,]” as well as “a “certified copy of the[ir] 15 trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for … the 6-month period 16 immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), (2). Using 17 this financial information, the court “shall assess and when funds exist, collect, … an 18 initial partial filing fee,” which is “calculated based on ‘the average monthly deposits to 19 the prisoner’s account’ or ‘the average monthly balance in the prisoner’s account’ over a 20 6-month term; the remainder of the fee is to be paid in ‘monthly payments of 20 percent 21 of the preceding month’s income credited to the prisoner’s account.” Hymas, 73 F.4th at 22 767 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)–(2)); Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th 23 Cir. 2015). 24 25 26 1 Civil litigants must pay an administrative fee of $55 in addition to the $350 statutory 27 filing fee. 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 28 1 Plaintiff did not pay the $405 filing pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) at the time he 2 || filed his Complaint, nor has he filed a properly supported motion to proceed IFP pursuant 3 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). Until Plaintiff either pays the filing fee in full or complies with 4 ||§ 1915(a)’s requirements, his case cannot proceed. See Andrews, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051; 5 || Hymas, 73 F.4th at 765. 6 Conclusion 7 Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES this civil action sua sponte without prejudice 8 || based on Plaintiffs failure to pay the $405 civil filing and administrative fee or to submit 9 ||a motion to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a) and 1915(a). 10 To successfully re-open the case, Plaintiff must either: (a) pay the entire $405 civil 11 || filing and administrative fee; or (b) complete and file a motion to proceed IFP which 12 includes a certified copy of trust account statement for the 6-month period preceding the 13 || filing of his complaint no later than April 10, 2026. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D. 14 Civ. L.R. 3.2(b). If Plaintiff fails to do either by April 10, 2026, this action will 15 remain dismissed without prejudice based on his failure to pay the filing fees required by 16 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. 18 19 Dated: February 26, 2026 21 {United States District Judge 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -3-