Arrant v. Cortes

• Court: District Court, S.D. California
• Decided: August 18, 2022
• Docket: 3:22-cv-00375
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 MELVIN R. ARRANT, Case No.: 22-CV-375 JLS (BGS)

10 ORDER (1) DENYING MOTION TO Plaintiff, 11 PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS v. AND (2) DISMISSING CIVIL 12 ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE

13 FOR FAILURE TO PAY FILING V. CORTES, et al., FEES REQUIRED BY 28 U.S.C. 14 Defendants. § 1914(a) 15 16 (ECF No. 2) 17 18 19 20 Plaintiff Melvin Arrant (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro se, filed this civil action 21 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on March 18, 2022, see ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”), together with 22 a Motion to Proceed in Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) (“IFP Mot.,” ECF No. 2), while 23 incarcerated at California State Prison, Los Angeles County (“LAC”). On May 2, 2022, 24 Plaintiff also filed a Notice of Change of Address, which indicates he has since been 25 released from custody. See ECF No. 3.1 26

27 1 The Court independently has confirmed that Plaintiff, who was also formerly identified as California 28 1 MOTION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 2 All parties instituting any civil action, suit, or proceeding in a district court of the 3 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 4 $402.2 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to 5 prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 6 § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. 7 Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). The fee is not waived for prisoners, however. 8 If granted leave to proceed IFP, a prisoner nevertheless remains obligated to pay the entire 9 fee in “increments” or “installments,” Bruce v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 (2016); Williams 10 v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), regardless of whether his action is 11 dismissed for other reasons. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 12 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 13 To qualify for IFP status, section 1915(a)(2) requires a prisoner to submit a “certified 14 copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 6-month 15 period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); 16 Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). From the certified trust account 17 statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of twenty percent of (a) the average 18 monthly deposits in the account for the past six months, or (b) the average monthly balance 19 in the account for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no 20 assets. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(b)(1), (4). The institution having custody of the prisoner 21 22 23 custody. See https://inmatelocator.cdcr.ca.gov/Results.aspx (last visited July 18, 2022); United States v. Basher, 629 F.3d 1161, 1165 (9th Cir. 2011) (taking judicial notice of Bureau of Prisons’ inmate locator 24 available to the public); see also Pacheco v. Diaz, Case No. 1:19-cv-00774-SAB (PC), 2019 WL 5073594, 25 at *2 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 4, 2019) (taking judicial notice of CDCR’s Inmate Locator system); McCoy v. Le, No. 3:21-CV-1755-BAS-LL, 2021 WL 5449004, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 22, 2021) (same). 26 2 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative fee of $52. See 27 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 granted leave to proceed 28 1 then collects subsequent payments, assessed at twenty percent of the preceding month’s 2 income, in any month in which his account exceeds ten dollars, and forwards those 3 payments to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See id. § 1915(b)(2); Bruce, 577 4 U.S. at 84. 5 Plaintiff was incarcerated at LAC when he filed this action; indeed, he so admits in 6 his IFP Motion, to which he has attached a certified prison certificate of his trust account 7 activity as reported by LAC officials. See IFP Mot. at 1, 4‒8. Because Plaintiff was a 8 prisoner at the time he initiated suit, Plaintiff is “required to pay the full amount of a filing 9 fee” in order to proceed. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). 10 When a prisoner, like Plaintiff, files a motion to proceed IFP that shows he is 11 financially unable to prepay the full amount of the civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. 12 § 1914(a), the Court typically assesses an initial partial filing fee based on the plaintiff’s 13 average inmate trust account deposits and balances over the six-month period preceding 14 the filing of his complaint, see 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), and thereafter directs the “agency 15 having custody” to forward both the initial and subsequent monthly payments required 16 “until the filing fees are paid,” id. § 1915(b)(2). 17 However, Plaintiff’s interim release from custody renders 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)’s fee 18 collection provisions unenforceable in this case. If Plaintiff is no longer incarcerated at 19 LAC and is no longer in the custody of any state or local correctional institution as his 20 Notice of Change of Address indicates, see ECF No. 3, no inmate trust account exists from 21 which his filing fees may be garnished and forwarded to the court. See DeBlasio v. 22 Gilmore, 315 F.3d 396, 399 (4th Cir. 2010) (noting that, after a prisoner is released, there 23 is “no ‘prisoner’s account’ from which to deduct . . . payments”). “Section 1915(b)(2) 24 provides no method of remitting payments other than by deduction from a prisoner’s 25 account, and thus it does not shed any light on how payments should be paid once that 26 prisoner is released.” Id. 27 The Ninth Circuit has yet to decide how a released prisoner who is obligated to “pay 28 the full amount of a filing fee” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) may proceed IFP after he has 1 been released—i.e., whether he must prepay the entire civil filing fee at once, whether he 2 may proceed pursuant to some other partial fee and/or court-ordered installment payment 3 plan, or whether his obligation to pay the fee is waived altogether or in part by virtue of his 4 release. See Putzer v. Attal, No. 2:13-cv-00165-APG-CWH, 2013 WL 4519351, at *1 (D. 5 Nev. Aug. 23, 2013) (noting the “unresolved issue within the Ninth Circuit regarding the 6 application of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) pauper application requirements 7 in cases where the prisoner is released pendente lite, i.e., during the litigation”); see also 8 Turner v. San Diego Cnty., Civil No. 14cv1965 LAB (WVG), 2014 WL 5800595, at *2‒3 9 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 7, 2014) (noting absence of Ninth Circuit authority addressing this issue); 10 Patten v. Walker, No. 1:13-cv-00346-RRB, 2015 WL 3623687, at *5 (E.D. Cal. June 9, 11 2015) (same). 12 In Putzer, U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon canvassed published cases from 13 other U.S. Courts of Appeals; noted a circuit split; and concluded—like the Fifth, Seventh, 14 and District of Columbia Circuits—that, if an IFP application is filed by a prisoner, the 15 “straightforward Congressional command in § 1915(b)(1)” requires that “full payment . . . 16 is triggered upon the filing of the . . . complaint,” regardless of “how the requirement is 17 satisfied.” 2013 WL 4519351, at *1–2 (citing Gay v. Tex. Dep’t of Corr., 117 F.3d 240, 18 241‒42 (5th Cir. 1997); In re Smith, 114 F.3d 1247, 1251‒52 (D.C. Cir. 1997); Robbins v. 19 Switzer, 104 F.3d 895, 897‒99 (7th Cir. 1997)). 20 Judge Gordon further rejected the Tenth, Fourth, Sixth, and Second Circuits’ 21 contrary conclusions in Brown v. Eppler, 725 F.3d 1221, 1231 n.7 (10th Cir. 2013); 22 DeBlasio v. Gilmore, 315 F.3d 396, 397 (4th Cir. 2003); In re Prison Litigation Reform 23 Act, 105 F.3d 1131, 1138‒39 (6th Cir. 1997); and McCann v. Commissioner, Social 24 Security Administration, 96 F.3d 28, 29–30 (2d Cir. 1996), all holding that 25 section 1915(b)(1)’s full fee payment requirements do not continue post-release. Putzer, 26 2013 WL 4519351, at at *1–2. Instead, Judge Gordon noted that, in the Ninth Circuit, 27 “even prior to the PLRA . . . district courts possessed authority under the non-PLRA-related 28 provisions of § 1915 to require partial and/or installment payments.” Id. at *2 (citing 1 Olivares v. Marshall, 59 F.3d 109, 111 (9th Cir. 1995) (“We take this opportunity to make 2 the apparent explicit: Courts have discretion to impose partial filing fees under the in forma 3 pauperis statute.”)). 4 Given that, “[i]n the Ninth Circuit . . . , the district court retains the discretion to 5 order installment payments even without the specific statutory payment mechanisms 6 otherwise applicable when the plaintiff is incarcerated,” id. at *2 n.2, Judge Gordon 7 concluded, in the absence of other binding authority on point, that while “the amount of 8 the initial partial payment and installment payments may be determined either from the 9 plaintiff’s prior inmate account balance and/or based on upon the plaintiff’s post-release 10 assets and income, . . . the fact that a different, but pre-existing method of enforcing the 11 full-payment requirement of the statute must be utilized does not justify disregarding the 12 Congressional command as to what is required.” Id. at *2 (footnote omitted). 13 The Court finds Judge Gordon’s reasoning and conclusion persuasive. Indeed, the 14 Southern District of California’s Local Rules have long provided that, “[i]n considering a 15 non-prisoner’s request to proceed in forma pauperis, the court may, in its discretion, impose 16 a partial filing fee which is less than the full filing fee that is required by law, but which is 17 commensurate with the applicant’s ability to pay.” S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2.d. And, while the 18 PLRA’s amendments to section 1915(b)(1) do not permit imposition of a fee less than the 19 “full amount” owed due to Plaintiff’s status as a prisoner at the time of filing, this Court 20 may assess, based on the financial information provided in Plaintiff’s inmate trust account 21 statements, a partial initial fee pursuant to section 1915(b)(1), and thereafter exercise its 22 pre-PLRA discretion under Olivares and Local Rule 3.2.d to collect the remainder of the 23 $350 filing fee balance, due in installments, and dependent on Plaintiff’s post-release 24 ability to pay. See Putzer, 2013 WL 4519351, at *3; Olivares, 59 F.3d at 112 (remanding 25 fee payments to district court in order to “review [plaintiff’s] present economic situation 26 and fit a fee to the economic facts if [he] [wa]s still interested in pursuing his claim”). 27 However, because 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) also provides that “[i]n no event shall a 28 prisoner be prohibited from bringing a civil action . . . for the reason that the prisoner has 1 no assets and no means by which to pay the initial filing fee,” see Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850 2 (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4)’s “safety-valve” preventing dismissal of a prisoner’s IFP 3 case based solely on a “failure to pay . . . due to the lack of funds available to him when 4 payment is ordered”), and the Court does not have before it a financial affidavit reflecting 5 Plaintiff’s current post-incarceration income, assets, and/or ability to pay, the Court hereby 6 DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiff’s present IFP Motion and DIRECTS him, 7 should he wish to further prosecute this action, to file a supplemental application to proceed 8 IFP that documents his current post-release income, assets, and expenses. See 28 U.S.C. 9 § 1915(a); see also Townsend v. Rendon, Case No. 1:21-cv-01120-DAD-SAB (PC), 2022 10 WL 1462181, at *2 (E.D. Cal. April 1, 2022) (directing released inmate to “either pay the 11 filing fee in full or submit a complete[d] application to proceed in forma pauperis by a non- 12 prisoner”); Makoni v. Downs, Civil No. 16cv2335-AJB (WVG), 2016 WL 7210403, at *4 13 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 13, 2016) (denying released prisoner’s initial IFP motion but granting leave 14 to file supplemental post-release IFP motion); Flynn v. Canlas, Civil No. 15-cv-2115- 15 WQH (PCL), 2015 WL 8492503, at *4 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 10, 2015) (same); Adler v. 16 Gonzalez, No. 1:11-cv-1915-LJO-MJS (PC), 2015 WL 4041772, at *2 (E.D. Cal. July 1, 17 2015) (requiring “updated IFP application” of released prisoner because court “ha[d] 18 before it no evidence that Plaintiff [remained] a pauper,” and the “[c]ircumstances that 19 undoubtedly contributed to his impoverishment, i.e., imprisonment, no longer exist”); 20 Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1234 (9th Cir. 2015) (noting that “[a]n affidavit in 21 support of an IFP application is sufficient where it alleges that the affiant cannot pay the 22 court costs and still afford the necessities of life”). 23 If Plaintiff elects to file a supplemental IFP motion, he is cautioned that, even if his 24 supplemental application to proceed IFP is granted, he will nevertheless remain obligated 25 to pay the full $350 civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) due to his status as a 26 prisoner at the time this action was commenced. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). His status 27 as a prisoner at filing will also subject Plaintiff to other restrictions placed on prisoners 28 under the PLRA. For example, Plaintiff’s Complaint immediately will be subject to the 1 sua sponte screening required by 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915A(b) and 1915(e)(2) and dismissed if 2 it is found to be frivolous, be malicious, fail to state a claim, or seek monetary relief from 3 an immune defendant, regardless of any fees that will remain due. See 28 U.S.C. 4 §§ 1915A(b)(1)–(2); id. § 1915(e)(2)(b); Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126–27 (9th Cir. 5 2000) (en banc) (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)); Rhodes v. Robinson, 621 F.3d 1002, 6 1004 (9th Cir. 2010) (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)). Such dismissal also may count 7 as a future “strike” against Plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) should he be 8 reincarcerated. See Andrews, 398 F.3d at 1116 n.1 (“Pursuant to § 1915(g), a prisoner with 9 three strikes or more cannot proceed IFP.”). In addition, Defendants may be entitled to 10 summary judgment if they can show Plaintiff failed to exhaust all administrative remedies 11 available to him while he was incarcerated and before he filed suit. See 42 U.S.C. 12 § 1997e(a); Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1190‒92 (9th Cir. 2015). 13 CONCLUSION 14 In light of the foregoing, the Court: 15 (1) DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed in Forma 16 Pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) (ECF No. 2); 17 (2) DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE this civil action for failure to 18 prepay the filing fees required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); 19 (3) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days from the date of this Order in which 20 to reopen his case by either: (a) prepaying the full $402 civil filing and administrative fee 21 required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) in one lump sum; or (b) filing a supplemental application 22 to proceed IFP that includes an affidavit documenting Plaintiff’s current post-release 23 income, assets, and expenses. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). If Plaintiff elects to reopen this 24 action by filing a supplemental IFP application, he is cautioned that he may still be required 25 to pay the full civil filing fee pursuant to a partial installment payment plan devised by the 26 Court dependent on his income, regardless of whether his case is subsequently dismissed 27 sua sponte pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b) or for any other reason; and 28 / / / 1 (4) DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to provide Plaintiff a blank AO 239 (Rev. 2 ||01/15) Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Long 3 || Form). 4 If Plaintiff chooses not to comply with this Order by either paying the full $402 civil 5 || filing and administrative fee in one lump sum or submitting a completed AO 239 6 || supplemental IFP application within forty-five (45) days of the date of this Order, this civil 7 action will remain dismissed without prejudice and without further order of the Court based 8 Plaintiff's failure to comply with 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 Dated: August 18, 2022 Mee tt \ f te 1] on. Janis L. Sammartino United States District Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 8 eo