Decristofaro v. United States

74 Fed. Cl. 717, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 374, 2006 WL 3488915
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedNovember 30, 2006
DocketNo. 06-726C
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 74 Fed. Cl. 717 (Decristofaro v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Decristofaro v. United States, 74 Fed. Cl. 717, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 374, 2006 WL 3488915 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

ORDER

HORN, Judge.

The plaintiff, Fabio Decristofaro, filed a “Motion of Recovery of my money,” in this court on October 22, 2006. This court construes this document as a complaint. In his complaint, the plaintiff alleges that after being extradited from Broward County Main Jail, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Broward County wrongly deducted $2.00 a day from his “account fund” from August 15, 1996 to February 1997, for a total of $346.00. Plaintiff alleges that this money was wrongly taken from him because the county was “responsible for all fees and cost pertaining to the agreement on extradition.” Plaintiff requests “the claims court to have the responsible party or parties to return his [plaintiffs] $346.00 that was taken against his will and illegally.” In addition to his complaint, plaintiff also filed a petition to proceed in forma pauperis and a document titled “Motion of inquiry and motion to reopen via rule civil procedure 60(b) for the purpose to obtain a fair judgment that you claim is void being time barred.” For the reasons discussed below, the court finds that plaintiff fails to meet the requirements for proceeding in for-ma pauperis, and that even if the court were to grant plaintiffs petition, this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear plaintiffs claim.

DISCUSSION

Petition to Proceed In Forma Pauperis

In this motion, plaintiff, acting pro se, asks leave of court to proceed informa pauperis. Plaintiff appears to be an incarcerated inmate at a federal correctional facility in Springfield, Missouri.1 In order to provide [719]*719access to this court to those who cannot pay the filing fees mandated by Rule 77.1(c) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC), 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (2000) permits a court of the United States, including this one, to allow a plaintiff to file a complaint without payment of fees or security, under specific circumstances. The applicable statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, provides:

(a)(1) Subject to subsection (b), any court of the United States may authorize the commencement, prosecution or defense of any suit, action or proceeding, civil or criminal, or appeal therein, without prepayment of fees or security therefor, by a person who submits an affidavit that includes a statement of all assets such [person] prisoner possesses that the person is unable to pay such fees or give security therefor. Such affidavit shall state the nature of the action, defense or appeal and affiant’s belief that the person is entitled to redress.

28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) (2000) (bracketed word in original); see also Hayes v. United States, 71 Fed.Cl. 366, 366-67 (2006) (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)).

When the person submitting a request to proceed in forma pauperis is a prisoner, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) requires that the prisoner submit, along with the affidavit required by subsection (a)(1), a certified copy of:

[T]he trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for the prisoner for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal, obtained from the appropriate official of each prison at which the prisoner is or was confined.

28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); see also Matthews v. United States, 72 Fed.Cl. 274, 277 (2006). Subsection 1915(b)(1) also requires that the filing fee for a lawsuit filed by a prisoner eventually be paid in full from funds available to prisoners. Subsection (b)(1) specifically states:

(b) (1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if a prisoner brings a civil action or files an appeal in forma pauperis, the prisoner shall be required to pay the full amount of a filing fee. The court shall assess and, when funds exist, collect, as a partial payment of any court fees required by law, an initial partial filing fee of 20 percent of the greater of—
(A) the average monthly deposits to the prisoner’s account; or
(B) the average monthly balance in the prisoner’s account for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal.

28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1).

Therefore, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), in order to qualify for informa pauperis status, an applicant must file an affidavit which includes a statement of assets, a statement that the applicant is unable to pay such fees or provide security, the nature of the action, defense or appeal, and that the affiant believes that he or she is entitled to redress. As a prisoner requesting in forma pauperis status, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2), the plaintiff also must submit a certified copy of the trust fund account statement for the prisoner for the six months preceding the filing of the action, along with the affidavit required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1).

In the above-captioned case, the plaintiff, Fabio Decristofaro, complied with the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1) by attaching an affidavit which indicates that he has no income or property of value, no cash in a checking or savings account, and no other available assets. However, plaintiff failed to comply with the statutory requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). As noted above, plaintiff submitted a document dated August 2, 2006, including copies of three receipts which appear to be records of spending activity for his inmate bank account. Under the terms of the statute, however, this court must require submission of a certified copy of the plaintiffs trust fund account statement before the court “may authorize [720]*720the commencement, prosecution or defense of any suit, action or proceedings, civil or criminal, or appeal therein, without prepayment of fees or security”, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), unless a proper informa pawperis application satisfying the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1) and (a)(2) has been filed. Plaintiffs request to proceed in forma pau-peris, therefore, must be denied.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
74 Fed. Cl. 717, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 374, 2006 WL 3488915, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/decristofaro-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.