Hone v. United States

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

NOT FOR PUBLICATION ______________________________________ ) JAMES A. HONE, ) ) Plaintiff, ) No. 26-900 ) v. ) Filed: July 16, 2026 ) THE UNITED STATES, ) ) Defendant. ) ______________________________________ )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff James A. Hone, who is incarcerated at New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility

and is proceeding pro se, filed his Complaint on June 17, 2026, without paying the filing fees. See

Pl.’s Compl., ECF No. 1. Consistent with the Court’s June 24, 2026 Order, ECF No. 6, Plaintiff

filed an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP Application”) on July 10, 2026. ECF No.

8. Among other things, Plaintiff’s IFP Application indicates that he has approximately $5,000.00

in cash or in a checking, savings, or inmate account, and that Plaintiff currently receives $9.00 per

month in idle pay from the Clinton Correctional Facility. Id. at 1–2. Plaintiff further indicates that

he does not have any regular monthly expenses, such as housing, transportation, utilities, or loan

payments, due to his incarceration. Id. at 2.

A court may waive its filing fees and allow a plaintiff to proceed IFP if the plaintiff is

“unable to pay such fees or give security therefor.” 1 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). “To be ‘unable to

1 To proceed with an action in this Court, a plaintiff must pay $405.00 in fees: a $350.00 filing fee plus a $55.00 administrative fee. The latter is waived for plaintiff-prisoners granted IFP status, but they must still pay the $350.00 filing fee. See Skinner v. Switzer, 562 U.S. 521, 535 (2011) (explaining that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) requires a plaintiff-prisoner proceeding IFP to pay the full filing fee out of a percentage of the plaintiff-prisoner’s prison trust account). pay such fees’ means that paying such fees would constitute a serious hardship on the plaintiff, not

that such payment would render plaintiff destitute.” Fiebelkorn v. United States, 77 Fed. Cl. 59,

62 (2007) (citing Adkins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339 (1948)). A plaintiff

must support his IFP application with an affidavit providing financial information, including a

statement of all assets, sufficient to demonstrate his eligibility for IFP status. 2 See 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(a)(1). It is left to the court’s discretion to determine whether requiring the plaintiff to pay

the filing fees would “impose[] undue financial hardship.” Chamberlain v. United States, 655 F.

App’x 822, 825 (Fed. Cir. 2016); see also Bryant v. United States, 618 F. App’x 683, 685 (Fed.

Cir. 2015) (“[P]roceeding in forma pauperis . . . is a privilege, not a right.” (alteration in original)

(quoting White v. Colorado, 157 F.3d 1226, 1233 (10th Cir. 1998))).

Upon review, the Court finds that requiring Plaintiff to pay the filing fees would not

“constitute a serious hardship.” Fiebelkorn, 77 Fed. Cl. at 62. Plaintiff indicates that he has

$5,000.00 in cash, checking, savings, or inmate accounts and no monthly expenses. ECF No. 8 at

1–2. Although Plaintiff may only receive $9.00 in monthly income, Plaintiff could use a portion

of the $5,000.00 in cash assets to pay the filing fees. Id. Indeed, a payment of $405.00 would

only expend approximately 8 percent of Plaintiff’s cash assets. Thus, based on Plaintiff’s current

cash assets and lack of monthly expenses, the Court finds that Plaintiff does not provide sufficient

“evidence that paying the filing fee would . . . impose[] undue financial hardship.” Chamberlain,

2 In addition, a plaintiff-prisoner seeking to proceed IFP must also submit (1) a certified copy of the plaintiff-prisoner’s trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint, and (2) a Prisoner Authorization Form. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). While Plaintiff provided his inmate account statements for the months of April and May 2026, see ECF No. 8 at 3–4, he did not fully comply with § 1915(a)(2)’s requirement to submit inmate account statements for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of his Complaint. As of May 29, 2026, Plaintiff had $368.04 in his inmate account. Id. at 3. 2 655 F. App’x at 825. Accordingly, Plaintiff is not entitled to proceed without payment of the filing

fees pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915.

Because the Court finds that Plaintiff is not entitled to IFP Status, Plaintiff’s IFP

Application (ECF No. 8) is DENIED. Plaintiff is ORDERED to pay the $405.00 in filing fees

by August 17, 2026. If Plaintiff fails to comply with this order, the Court will dismiss his case

for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims.

SO ORDERED.

Dated: July 16, 2026 /s/ Kathryn C. Davis KATHRYN C. DAVIS Judge