Hairston v. Bezo
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- John A. Houston (author)
Analysis
Plaintiff filed a civil complaint but failed to pay the required filing fee or file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis within 30 days. The court dismissed the action without prejudice.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Dismissal of civil action without prejudice for failure to pay filing fee or move to proceed in forma pauperis“Accordingly, the Court dismisses this civil action without prejudice based on Plaintiff's failure to take the necessary action for this matter to proceed.” | agree with court The court correctly applied the local rule and statutory requirement that a plaintiff must either pay the filing fee or file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis within 30 days of filing the complaint. The order recites that 30 days had elapsed and neither action was taken, which is the standard basis for dismissal without prejudice in the Ninth Circuit. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally correct and cites the appropriate statutes and Ninth Circuit precedent. It clearly states the facts (complaint filed, 30 days elapsed, no fee paid, no IFP motion filed) and applies the law to those facts. There are no gaps in reasoning for this routine procedural dismissal.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ROBEY KURT HAIRSTON, Case No.: 3:23-cv-1501-JAH-BGS 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL 13 v. ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR FAILING TO PAY FILING FEE 14 JEFF BEZO, AMAZON, AND/OR FAILING TO MOVE TO 15 Defendant. PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 16 17 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 18 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 19 $402. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a).1 An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to 20 prepay the entire fee, however, if he is granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) 21 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 22 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). 23 /// 24 25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative 27 fee of $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 28 1 Here, Plaintiff filed a complaint on August 14, 2023. (ECF No. 1). Thirty days have 2 || elapsed since the filing of the complaint, and Plaintiff has yet to pay the $402 civil filing 3 |}and administrative fee, or to submit a Motion to Proceed IFP. Accordingly, the Court 4 ||dismisses this civil action without prejudice based on Plaintiff's failure to take the 5 ||necessary action for this matter to proceed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); Andrews, 493 F.3d 6 1051. 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 || DATED: September 15, 2023 ! | UM | } = : 10 JOFIN A. HOUSTON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28