Godwin v. Loera

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JEREMY J. GODWIN, Case No.: 3:20-cv-02001-LAB-BLM CDCR #AS-4717, 12 ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL Plaintiff, 13 ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE vs. FOR FAILING TO PAY 14 FILING FEE REQUIRED 15 BY 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) AND/OR RAYMOND LOERA, et al., FAILING TO MOVE TO PROCEED 16 Defendants. IN FORMA PAUPERIS 17 PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) 18 19 20 21 Plaintiff Jeremy J. Godwin (“Plaintiff”), currently incarcerated at Chuckawalla 22 Valley State Prison, is proceeding pro se in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 23 Section 1983. (See ECF No. 1, Compl.) 24 I. Failure to Pay Filing Fee or Request In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) Status 25 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 26 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 27 /// 28 /// 1 $400. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to 2 prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) 3 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 4 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, if the 5 Plaintiff is a prisoner, and even if he is granted leave to commence his suit IFP, he 6 remains obligated to pay the entire filing fee in “increments,” see Williams v. Paramo, 7 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), regardless of whether his case is ultimately 8 dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 9 (9th Cir. 2002). 10 Plaintiff has not prepaid the $400 in filing and administrative fees required to 11 commence this civil action. Although Plaintiff has filed a Motion for Leave to Proceed 12 IFP, (see ECF No. 2), albeit on a form created for filing in the Central District of 13 California, he has not attached “a certified copy of the trust account statement (or 14 institutional equivalent) for [Plaintiff] for the 6-month period immediately preceding the 15 filing of the complaint . . . obtained from the appropriate official of each prison at which 16 the prisoner is or was confined” as required by 28 U.S.C. Section 1915(a)(2). The trust 17 account statements attached to Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP are not certified and are 18 dated a month before the Complaint was filed. (See ECF No. 2, at 3-4.) Without the 19 certified trust account statements from the proper period, the Court cannot determine 20 whether Plaintiff is entitled to proceed IFP or assess what, if any, initial partial filing fee 21 may be due. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), (b)(1). As a result, Plaintiff’s case cannot yet 22 proceed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); Andrews, 493 F.3d at 1051. 23 /// 24 25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional 27 administrative fee of $50. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Oct. 1, 2019)). The additional $50 28 1 Conclusion and Order 2 For the reasons set forth above, the Court hereby: 3 (1) DISMISSES this action sua sponte without prejudice for failure to pay the A $400 civil filing and administrative fee or to submit a properly supported Motion to 5 || Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1914(a) and Section 1915(a); and 6 (2) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days leave from the date this Order is 7 to: (a) prepay the entire $400 civil filing and administrative fee in full; or (b) 8 ||complete and file a properly supported Motion to Proceed IFP. See 28 U.S.C. 9 1915(a)(2); S.D. Cal. Civ. L.R. 3.2(b). 10 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall provide Plaintiff 11 || with this Court’s approved form “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to 12 || Proceed In Forma Pauperis.” If Plaintiff fails to either prepay the $400 civil filing fee or 13 ||complete and submit a properly supported Motion to Proceed IFP within 45 days, this 14 || action will remain dismissed without prejudice based on Plaintiff’s failure to satisfy the 15 || fee requirements of 28 U.S.C. Section 1914(a) and without further Order of the Court. 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. 17 || Dated: November 2, 2020 / Ve | 4 (- 1 VY 18 Hon. Lafry Alan Burns 19 Chief United States District Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3