Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOSE GONZALEZ, Case No.: 26-CV-1720 JLS (AHG) CDCR #C-71416, 12 ORDER: (1) GRANTING REQUEST Plaintiff, 13 TO BE EXCUSED FROM v. COMPLYING WITH GENERAL 14 ORDER 653A;

15 T. THOMPSON, and R. ZABALA, (2) DENYING MOTION TO 16 Defendants. PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS; 17 AND 18 3) DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION 19 FOR FAILURE TO PAY THE FILING FEE REQUIRED BY 28 20 U.S.C. § 1914(a) 21 (ECF Nos. 2, 3) 22 23 I. INTRODUCTION 24 Jose Gonzalez (“Plaintiff”), a state inmate proceeding pro se, has filed a civil rights 25 complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See ECF No. 1. Plaintiff did not pay the filing 26 fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) to commence a civil action when he filed his 27 Complaint; instead, he has filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant 28 1 to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See ECF No. 2. Plaintiff has also filed a request to be relieved of 2 the requirement set forth in this Court’s General Order 653A,1 which mandates that initial 3 filings from incarcerated plaintiffs be submitted electronically. See ECF No. 3. For the 4 reasons discussed below, the Court grants Plaintiff’s request to be relieved from complying 5 with this Southern District of California General Order 653A, denies the IFP motion, and 6 dismisses the action without prejudice. 7 II. GENERAL ORDER 653A 8 Southern District of California General Order 653A requires prisoners incarcerated 9 at Centinela State Prison, where Plaintiff is confined, who wish to file § 1983 actions to 10 submit their initial filings electronically with the Clerk of the Court. See S.D. Cal. Gen. 11 Order No. 653A. The General Order provides that any initial documents subject the Order 12 that are received by the Clerk, but which are not in conformance with General Order 653A, 13 are “accepted by the Clerk of Court for filing and docketed, but may be stricken by Court 14 order as authorized by Local Civil Rule 83.1.” See S.D. Cal. Gen. Order No. 653A ¶ 2. 15 Here, Plaintiff seeks leave to file his civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 16 by mail, and to be excused from compliance with General Order 653A, because the 17 librarian at Centinela State Prison declined to submit the Complaint for e-filing because it 18 exceeds the page limitation. See ECF No. 3 at 3. Good cause appearing, the Court 19 GRANTS the Motion (ECF No. 3). 20 III. IFP MOTION 21 Plaintiff’s IFP motion, however, must be denied. Generally, parties instituting any 22 civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the United States, except an application 23 for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of $405. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The 24 action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to prepay the entire fee only if he is granted 25 leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 26 27 1While Plaintiff references General Order No. 653, General Order No. 653A was adopted on June 20, 28 1 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007). However, a prisoner granted leave to proceed IFP remains 2 obligated to pay the entire fee in “increments” or “installments,” Bruce v. Samuels, 577 3 U.S. 82, 84–85 (2016); Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), and 4 regardless of whether his action is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); 5 Taylor v. Delatorre, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 6 Section 1915(a)(2) requires prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP to submit a 7 “certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 8 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. 9 § 1915(a)(2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). From the certified 10 trust account statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of 20% of (a) the average 11 monthly deposits in the account for the past six months, or (b) the average monthly balance 12 in the account for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no 13 assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). The institution having custody 14 of the prisoner then collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20% of the preceding 15 month’s income, in any month in which his account exceeds $10, and forwards those 16 payments to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2); Bruce, 17 577 U.S. at 84–85. 18 In support of his IFP motion, Plaintiff has submitted a Prison Certificate authorized 19 by a prison accounting official and a copy of his Inmate Statement Report. See ECF Nos. 20 2, 4; 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2; Andrews, 398 F.3d at 1119. These 21 documents show that for the six months immediately preceding filing of the Complaint, 22 Plaintiff carried an average monthly balance of $3,721.01 and average monthly deposits of 23 $428.01. Id. at 5. The available balance in Plaintiff’s trust account as of March 12, 2026, 24 was $4,370.70. Id. at 2, 7. As such, Plaintiff has not shown the indigence required to 25 proceed IFP. Because Plaintiff has shown he is able to pay the $405 filing fee in total, 26 Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP (ECF No. 2) is DENIED. 27 / / / 28 / / / I CONCLUSION 2 In light of the foregoing, the Court: 3 1. GRANTS Plaintiff's Motion to be Relieved from General Order 653’s 4 || Electronic Filing Requirement (ECF No. 3). 5 2. DENIES Plaintiff's Motion to Proceed IFP (ECF No. 2). 6 3. DISMISSES this action WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to pay the full 7 statutory and administrative $405 civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 8 4. GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days leave from the date this Order is filed 9 |/in which to pay the $405 civil filing fee. If the filing fee is not paid within that period, 10 || the case will be closed. 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 Dated: May 19, 2026 oe 14 United States District Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28