Becker v. Saul
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Karen S. Crawford (author)
Analysis
Plaintiff Jamie Joseph B. filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis in a Social Security appeal, submitting an affidavit detailing his unemployment, limited income from food stamps, and minimal assets. The court granted the application, finding that the plaintiff demonstrated an inability to pay the filing fee while maintaining the necessities of life.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis granted“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 statutory standard of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) and the Ninth Circuit precedent in United States v. McQuade. The affidavit provided specific details regarding income ($194/month from food stamps) and assets ($8.08), which clearly demonstrated that the plaintiff could not pay the filing fee without compromising his ability to provide for the necessities of life, consistent with the standard set forth in Adkins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. |
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 reasoning directly connects the specific financial facts in the affidavit to the legal standard of inability to pay fees while maintaining necessities of life.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JAMIE JOSEPH B., Case No.: 20CV0250-KSC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION 13 v. TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS [DOC. NO. 2] 14 ANDREW H. SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, 15 Defendant. 16 17 On February 2, 2020, plaintiff Jamie Joseph B. commenced an action against 18 Andrew H. 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 and has limited income and 6 ||assets. His only income is public-assistance food stamps, totaling $194 per month. [Doc. 7 2, p. 2.] His only asset is $8.08, the combined balance of his checking and savigs 8 accounts . [/d.] His monthly expenses total $194, which includes food. [/d., pp. 4-5.] 9 || Therefore, the Court finds that plaintiff has submitted an affidavit which sufficiently 10 || shows that he lacks the financial resources to pay her filing fee. Accordingly, 11 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT plaintiff's Application to Proceed with his 12 ||Complaint in forma pauperis is GRANTED. [Doc. No. 2.] 13 |}Dated: February 11, 2020 Jl. Ke 15 Hori. Karen 8S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28