Casey v. Reaud

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DOUGLAS K. CASEY, Case No.: 3:23-cv-1439-GPC-SBC BOP #35005510, 12 ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL Plaintiff, 13 ACTION FOR FAILURE TO PAY vs. FILING FEES REQUIRED BY 14 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) WAYNE REAUD, CENTRAL 15 INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, FEDERAL 16 BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, et al, 17 Defendants. 18 19 Douglas K. Casey (“Plaintiff”), an inmate proceeding pro se, has filed a civil rights 20 complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, along with a letter and “supplemental document.” 21 See ECF Nos. 1–5. Plaintiff has not prepaid the $402 civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. 22 § 1914(a), however, and has not filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) 23 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). 24 I. Failure to Pay Filing Fee or Request 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 $402. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to prepay 28 the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). 1 See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 2 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, if the Plaintiff is a prisoner, and even if he is 3 granted leave to commence his suit IFP, he remains obligated to pay the entire filing fee in 4 “increments,” see Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), regardless of 5 whether his case is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. 6 Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 7 Plaintiff has not prepaid the $402 in filing and administrative fees required to 8 commence this civil action, nor has he submitted a properly supported Motion to Proceed 9 IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a).1 Therefore, his case cannot yet proceed. See 28 U.S.C. 10 § 1914(a); Andrews, 493 F.3d at 1051. 11 II. Conclusion and Order 12 For the reasons set forth above, the Court hereby: 13 (1) DISMISSES this action sua sponte without prejudice for failure to pay the 14 $400 civil filing and administrative fee or to submit a Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to 15 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a) and 1915(a); and 16 (2) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days leave from the date this Order is filed 17 to: (a) prepay the entire $402 civil filing and administrative fee in full; or (b) complete and 18 file a Motion to Proceed IFP which includes a certified copy of his trust account statement 19 for the 6-month period preceding the filing of his Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); 20 S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2(b). 21 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall provide Plaintiff 22 with this Court’s approved form “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed 23 In Forma Pauperis.” If Plaintiff fails to either prepay the $402 civil filing fee or complete 24 and submit the enclosed Motion to Proceed IFP within 45 days, this action will remain 25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative fee of 27 $52. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2020). The additional $52 administrative fee does not apply to persons 28 1 || dismissed without prejudice based on Plaintiff's failure to satisfy 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a)’s fee 2 requirements and without further Order of the Court. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 ||Dated: August 17, 2023 □□ 5 Cor athe Cade 6 United States District Judge 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3