Brown v. AMA/NYAG

• Court: District Court, D. Nevada
• Decided: April 16, 2024
• Docket: 2:24-cv-00470
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 2 3 JESSICA M. BROWN, Case No. 2:24-cv-00470-APG-EJY 3 4 Plaintiff, 4 ORDER 5 v. 5 6 AMA/NYAG for GOODWILL, LLC, 6 7 Defendants. 7 8 8 9 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s third attempt to submit a compliant application to 9 10 proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”). ECF No. 6. Plaintiff also filed a Motion seeking appointment 10 11 of counsel. ECF No. 7. 11 12 Attached to this Order are the two forms that Plaintiff must submit to complete her IFP 12 13 application. The Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center (“FMWCC”) should be able to 13 14 provide Plaintiff with a printout of her trust fund account statement, an example of which is attached 14 15 as Exhibit 1. The Financial Certificate form is page four of the IFP packet Plaintiff previously 15 16 received, but which the Court attaches again as Exhibit 2. 16 17 Plaintiff’s Motion seeking appointment of counsel fails for two reasons. First, as a civil 17 18 litigant, Plaintiff has no right to counsel. Lassiter v. Department of Social Services of Durham 18 19 County, 452 U.S. 18 (1981); Storseth v. Spellman, 654 F.2d 1349, 1353 (9th Cir. 1981). Second, a 19 20 court may under “exceptional circumstances” appoint counsel for indigent civil litigants pursuant to 20 21 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Agyeman v. Corrs. Corp. of Am., 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004), cert. 21 22 denied sub nom. Gerber v. Agyeman, 545 U.S. 1128 (2005). When determining whether 22 23 “exceptional circumstances” exist, a court must consider “the likelihood of success on the merits as 23 24 well as the ability of the petitioner to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the 24 25 legal issues involved.” Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir.1983). Plaintiff has not 25 26 demonstrated exceptional circumstances at this juncture of her case. 26 27 27 28 28 2 pauperis (ECF No. 6) will be held by the Court at this time. 2 3 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed in forma pauperis (ECF 3 4 No. 4) is DENIED as moot. 4 5 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff must submit a completed Financial Certificate 5 6 (attached hereto as Exhibit 2) signed by the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center and by 6 7 Plaintiff, together with a printout of her trust fund account statement (example attached as Exhibit 7 8 1) for the last six months (or, if Plaintiff has not been at the facility for six months, for the period of 8 9 time she has been housed at the FMWCC), no later than May 25, 2024. 9 10 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion seeking appointment of counsel (ECF 10 11 No. 7) is DENIED. 11 12 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if Plaintiff fails to file the completed Financial Certificate 12 13 and print out of her trust fund account statement by or before May 25, 2024, the Court will 13 14 recommend this case be dismissed without prejudice as Plaintiff will have had three opportunities to 14 15 submit a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis. A dismissal without prejudice allows 15 16 Plaintiff to commence a new claim, with a complete in forma pauperis application and complaint, 16 17 when she is able to do so. 17 18 DATED this 16th day of April, 2024. 18 19 19 20 20 21 ELAYNA J. YOUCHAH 21 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 EXHIBIT 1 * . . . fi Financial Certificates

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Financial Certificates

Date Description Deposit Withdrawal Balance a

EXHIBIT 2 I request that an authorized officer of the institution in which I am confined, or other designated entity, such as Inmate Services for the Nevada Department of Prisons (NDOC), complete the below Financial Certificate. I understand that: (1) if I commence a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, the filing fee is $5.00, and that such fee will have to be paid by me if the court denies my in forma pauperis application; (2) if I commence a civil rights action in federal court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the filing fee is $402.00 (which includes the $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee), which I must pay in full; and (a) if my current account balance (line #1 below) is $402.00 or more, I will not qualify for in forma pauperis status and I must pay the full filing fee of $402.00 before I will be allowed to proceed with the action; (b) if I do NOT have $402.00 in my account as reflected on line #1 below, before I will be allowed to proceed with an action I will be required to pay 20% of my average monthly balance (line #2 below), or the average monthly deposits to my account (line #3 below), whichever is greater, and thereafter I must pay installments of 20% of the preceding month’s deposits to my account in months that my account balance exceeds $10.00 (if I am in the custody of the NDOC, I hereby authorize the NDOC to make such deductions from deposits to my account, and I further understand that if I have a prison job, then the 20% of my paycheck that is guaranteed to me as spendable money will be sent to the court for payment of the filing fee); and (c) I must continue to make installment payments until the $350.00 filing fee is fully paid, without regard to whether my action is closed or my release from confinement. The $52 administrative fee will be waived only if I am granted permission to proceed in forma pauperis. Type of action (check one): civil rights habeas corpus INMATE NAME (printed) SIGNATURE & PRISON NUMBER ------------------------------ 1.CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE 2.AVERAGE MONTHLY BALANCE* 3.AVERAGE MONTHLY DEPOSITS* 4.FILING FEE (based on #1, #2 or #3, whichever is greater) * for the past six (6) months, from all sources, including amount in any savings account that is in excess of minimum amount that must be maintained ------------------------------ I hereby certify that as of this date, the above financial information is accurate for the above named inmate. (Please sign in ink in a) (color other than black.) AUTHORIZED OFFICER DATE TITLE