Elisarravaz v. Haydon

• Court: District Court, E.D. California
• Decided: August 11, 2025
• Docket: 1:25-cv-00930
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ABEL ANTONIO ELISARRAVAZ, Case No. 1:25-cv-00930-BAM 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO RANDOMLY ASSIGN DISTRICT 13 v. JUDGE

14 CAREY HAYDON et al., FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDING PLAINTIFF’S 15 Defendants. APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS BE DENIED 16 (Doc. 2) 17 FOURTEEN (14) DAY DEADLINE 18 19 Plaintiff Abel Antonio Elisarravaz (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro se, removed this case 20 from Madera County Superior Court, Case No. MFL018582, on July 29, 2025. (Doc. 1.) On the 21 same day, Plaintiff filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. 22 (Doc. 2.) 23 According to Plaintiff’s application, he receives monthly income from state disability in 24 the amount of $4,324.00 per month. (Id. at 1.) This amounts to an annual income of $51,888 25 ($4,324 x 12 months = $51,888). Plaintiff lists only his daughter as a dependent, to whom he 26 contributes $578.00 a month for support. (Id. at 2.) 27 “To satisfy the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1915, applicants must demonstrate that 28 1 because of poverty, they cannot meet court costs and still provide themselves, and any 2 dependents, with the necessities of life.” Soldani v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., No. 1:19-cv-00040, 3 2019 WL 2160380, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2019). Many courts look to the federal poverty 4 guidelines set by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) as a 5 guidepost in evaluating in forma pauperis applications. See Martinez v. Kristi Kleaners, Inc., 364 6 F.3d 1305, 1307 n.5 (11th Cir. 2004); Boulas v. United States Postal Serv., No. 1:18-cv-01163- 7 LJO-BAM, 2018 WL 6615075, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 1, 2018) (applying federal poverty 8 guidelines to in forma pauperis application). For a family or household of two, the 2025 poverty 9 guideline is $21,150. See U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines Used to Determine Financial 10 Eligibility for Certain Federal Programs, available at https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty- 11 economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines (last visited August 8, 2025). 12 Having considered Plaintiff’s application, the Court finds that Plaintiff has not made the 13 showing required by section 1915 that he is unable to pay the required fees for this action. 14 Plaintiff’s household estimated annual income is nearly two and a half times that of the federal 15 poverty guidelines. In light of this, there is no indication that Plaintiff is unable to pay the filing 16 fee while also providing for the necessities of life. Accordingly, the Clerk of the Court is 17 HEREBY DIRECTED to randomly assign a District Judge to this action. 18 Furthermore, it is HEREBY RECOMMENDED that: 19 1. Plaintiff’s application to proceed without prepayment of fees and costs (Doc. 2) be 20 DENIED; and 21 2. Plaintiff be required to pay the $405.00 filing fee in full to proceed with this 22 action. 23 These Findings and Recommendations will be submitted to the United States District 24 Judge assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Within 25 fourteen (14) days after being served with these Findings and Recommendations, the parties may 26 file written objections with the court. The document should be captioned “Objections to 27 Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Objections, if any, shall not exceed 28 fifteen (15) pages or include exhibits. Exhibits may be referenced by document and page 1 number if already in the record before the Court. Any pages filed in excess of the 15-page 2 limit may not be considered. The parties are advised that failure to file objections within the 3 specified time may result in the waiver of the “right to challenge the magistrate’s factual 4 findings” on appeal. Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 838–39 (9th Cir. 2014) (citing Baxter 5 v. Sullivan, 923 F.2d 1391, 1394 (9th Cir. 1991)). 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 7

8 Dated: August 8, 2025 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 9

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