Koengeter v. Saul
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Karen S. Crawford (author)
Analysis
Plaintiff Nathan Koengeter filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis in a Social Security appeal. The court granted the application, finding that the plaintiff's affidavit demonstrated an inability to pay the filing fee while maintaining the necessities of life.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Grant of Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT plaintiff's Application to Proceed with his Complaint in forma pauperis is GRANTED. [Doc. No. 2.]” | agree with court The court correctly applied the standard from 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) and United States v. McQuade, requiring the affidavit to show poverty with particularity. The court also correctly noted via Adkins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. that complete destitution is not required, only the inability to pay fees while retaining necessities of life. The recited facts (unemployed, $1,000 savings, shared vehicle, household expenses exceeding income) support the finding that the plaintiff meets this threshold. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally correct and cites the appropriate statutory and case law authorities for granting in forma pauperis status. The factual findings are specific and support the legal conclusion.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 NATHAN KOENGETER, Case No.: 19CV2228-KSC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION 13 v. TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS [DOC. NO. 2] 14 ANDREW SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, 15 Defendant. 16 17 On November 22, 2019, plaintiff Nathan Koengeter commenced an action against 18 Andrew Saul, the Commissioner of Social Security, seeking review of a final adverse 19 decision of the Commissioner. [Doc. No. 1.] Plaintiff also filed an Application to Proceed 20 with his Complaint in forma pauperis. [Doc. No. 2.] The Application is in the form of an 21 affidavit. [Id.] 22 A court may authorize the commencement of a suit without prepayment of fees if 23 the plaintiff submits an affidavit, including a statement of all his or her assets, showing 24 that he or she is unable to pay the filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). The affidavit must 25 “state the facts as to [the] affiant's poverty with some particularity, definiteness and 26 certainty.” United States v. McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 (9th Cir.1981) (internal 27 quotations omitted). 28 1 A party need not be completely destitute to proceed in forma pauperis. Adkins v. 2 ||E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339-340 (1948). An affidavit is sufficient 3 it shows that the applicant cannot pay the fee “and still be able to provide himself [or 4 ||herself] and dependents with the necessities of life.” /d. (internal quotations omitted). 5 Here, plaintiff's affidavit states that he is unemployed, has no income and limited 6 |/assets. His only assets are a savings account with a balance of $1,000 and a 2019 Nissan 7 Sentra valued at $11,500 that he shares with his spouse. [Doc. No. 3, pp. 2-3.] He has a 6 8 || year old son. [/d., p. 3.] The only income for the household is from his spouse’s job, who 9 expected to earn $4,580.00 this month. [/d., pp. 1-2.] Monthly expenses for the 10 household total $6,156.00. [/d., pp. 4-5.] Therefore, the Court finds that plaintiff has 11 |}submitted an affidavit which sufficiently shows he lacks the financial resources to pay his 12 || filing fee. Accordingly, 13 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT plaintiff's Application to Proceed with his 14 ||Complaint in forma pauperis is GRANTED. [Doc. No. 2.] 15 ||Dated: January 6, 2020 Jl. Ke 7 Hori. Karen 8S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28