Ritchie v. Hill

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOAQUIN RITCHIE, Case No.: 23-CV-2163 JLS (VET)

12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S 13 v. RENEWED APPLICATION TO PROCEED IN DISTRICT COURT 14 ALLYSON HILL and GOLDEN 1 WITHOUT PREPAYING FEES OR CREDIT UNION, 15 COSTS Defendants. 16 (ECF No. 6) 17 18 19 20 Presently before the Court is Plaintiff Joaquin Ritchie’s Renewed Application to 21 Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (“Renewed IFP Appl.,” ECF 22 No. 6). In its December 5, 2023 Order (the “Order,” ECF No. 3), the Court denied 23 Plaintiff’s Prior IFP Application (“Prior Appl.,” ECF No. 2) and dismissed Plaintiff’s 24 Complaint (“Compl.,” ECF No. 1) for failing to pay the required filing fee. Having 25 carefully considered Plaintiff’s submissions and the law, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s 26 Renewed IFP Application. 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 DISCUSSION 2 All parties instituting a civil action, suit, or proceeding in a district court of the 3 United States, other than a petition for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of $405.1 4 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). An action may proceed despite a party’s failure to pay the filing fee 5 only if the party is granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 6 § 1915(a)(1), which reads as follows: 7 [A]ny court of the United States may authorize the commencement, prosecution or defense of any suit, action or 8 proceeding . . . without prepayment of fees or security therefor, 9 by a person who submits an affidavit that includes a statement of all assets such [person] possesses that the person is unable to pay 10 such fees or give security therefor. 11 12 As § 1915(a)(1) does not itself define what constitutes insufficient assets to warrant IFP 13 status, the determination of indigency falls within the district court’s discretion. See Cal. 14 Men’s Colony v. Rowland, 939 F.2d 854, 858 (9th Cir. 1991) (“Section 1915 typically 15 requires the reviewing court to exercise its sound discretion in determining whether the 16 affiant has satisfied the statute’s requirement of indigency.”), rev’d on other grounds, 17 506 U.S. 194 (1993). 18 “An affidavit in support of an IFP application is sufficient where it alleges that the 19 affiant cannot pay the court costs and still afford the necessities of life.” Escobedo v. 20 Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1234 (9th Cir. 2015) (citing Adkins v. E.I. Du Pont de Nemours 21 & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339 (1948)). “One need not be absolutely destitute to obtain benefits 22 of the [IFP] statute.” Jefferson v. United States, 277 F.2d 723, 725 (9th Cir. 1960). 23 “Nonetheless, a plaintiff seeking IFP status must allege poverty ‘with some particularity, 24 definiteness and certainty.’” Escobedo, 787 F.3d at 1234 (quoting United States v. 25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative fee of $55. See 27 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. 28 Dec. 1, 2023)). The additional $55 administrative fee does not apply to persons granted leave to proceed 1 || McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 (9th Cir. 1981)). 2 Here, Plaintiff indicates that he and his spouse earned an average of $7,891 per 3 || month over the last year and expect to earn $4,600 next month. Renewed IFP Appl. at 1-2. A || Plaintiff estimates that, in a typical month, his family’s expenses total $6,940. Jd. at 4—5. 5 || Plaintiff's average monthly income thus exceeds his average monthly expenses by $951. 6 || Plaintiff further reports that he and his spouse have $100 in cash, $6,350 in their bank 7 ||}accounts, and two vehicles with a combined value of $26,000. See id. at 2-3. 8 Based on this information, the Court finds Plaintiff has not shown that he cannot pay 9 ||the court costs and still afford the necessities of life. The amount of money Plaintiff 10 indicates he and his spouse receive each month exceeds their average expenses by enough 11 he could pay the one-time filing fee without impacting his regular expenses. And 12 Plaintiff does not expect “any major changes to [his] monthly income or 13 ||expenses .. . during the next 12 months.” /d. at 5. The Court also notes that Plaintiff filed 14 || another civil case in federal court earlier this year, see Compl. at 1, and he managed to pay 15 || the required filing fee when he initiated that action on September 18, 2023, see Complaint, 16 || Ritchie v. Chan, No. 23-CV-1715-JO-BGS (S.D. Cal. Sept. 18, 2023), ECF No. 1. 17 CONCLUSION 18 In light of the foregoing, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's Renewed IFP Application 19 (ECF No. 6). Plaintiff's Complaint thus remains dismissed for failure to prepay the filing 20 ||fee mandated by 28 U.S.C. §1914(a). See Order at 5. The Court GRANTS Plaintiff an 21 || additional thirty (30) days from the date of this Order to pay the entire $405 statutory and 22 administrative filing fee. Should Plaintiff fail to pay the filing fee, the Court will convert 23 || this dismissal of Plaintiff’s Complaint into dismissal of this civil action. 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 ||Dated: December 21, 2023 (een 26 on. Janis L. Sammartino United States District Judge 27 28