Lee v. Maranda

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedMay 31, 2022
Docket3:22-cv-00335
StatusUnknown

This text of Lee v. Maranda (Lee v. Maranda) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lee v. Maranda, (S.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 HAROLD C. LEE, Case No.: 3:22-cv-00335-JAH-MSB CDCR# T-44149, 12 ORDER: Plaintiff, 13 vs. (1) GRANTING MOTION TO 14 PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS MARANDA, Correctional Officer, R.C. 15 JOHNSON, Warden, D. WILLIAMS, (2) DENYING MOTION TO 16 Chief Deputy Warden, P. APPOINT COUNSEL BRACAMONTE, Captain, 17 Defendants. AND 18

19 (3) SCREENING COMPLAINT PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. 20 § 1915(e)(2)(B) & 1915A 21 [ECF Nos. 2, 4] 22

23 24 Harold C. Lee (“Plaintiff” or “Lee”), currently incarcerated at the Richard J. 25 Donovan Correctional Facility (“RJD”), and proceeding pro se, has filed this civil action 26 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Compl., ECF No. 1 at 1. In addition, Plaintiff has filed 27 a Motion to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) and a 28 Motion to appoint counsel. See ECF Nos. 2, 4. 1 I. Motion to Proceed IFP 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 $402.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The 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). However, a prisoner who is granted leave to 8 proceed IFP remains obligated to pay the entire fee in increments or “installments,” Bruce 9 v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 (2016); Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 10 2015), and regardless of whether his action is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. 11 § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 12 Section 1915(a)(2) requires prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP to submit a 13 “certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for . . . the 14 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. 15 § 1915(a)(2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). From the certified 16 trust account statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of 20% of (a) the average 17 monthly deposits in the account for the past six months, or (b) the average monthly balance 18 in the account for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no 19 assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). The institution having custody 20 of the prisoner then collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20% of the preceding 21 month’s income, in any month in which his account exceeds $10, and forwards those 22 payments to the Court until the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 23 24 25 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative 26 fee of $52. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court 27 Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2020). The additional $52 administrative fee does not apply to persons granted leave to proceed IFP. Id. 28 1 In support of his IFP Motion, Plaintiff has submitted a copy of his CDCR inmate 2 trust account statement and prison certificate. See ECF No. 3; 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D. 3 CAL. CIVLR 3.2; Andrews, 398 F.3d at 1119. This statement shows that in the six months 4 preceding filing, Plaintiff has had average monthly deposits of $191.81 and an average 5 monthly balance of $211.27. See ECF No. 3 at 1. At the time of filing, however, Plaintiff 6 had an available balance of only $1.27. Id. 7 Based on this accounting, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s Motion to proceed IFP 8 (ECF No. 2) and declines to assess any initial partial filing fee pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 9 § 1915(b)(1) because sufficient funds are not available in Plaintiff’s account to pay one. 10 See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) (providing that “[i]n no event shall a prisoner be prohibited 11 from bringing a civil action or appealing a civil action or criminal judgment for the reason 12 that the prisoner has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial filing fee.”); 13 Bruce, 577 U.S. at 86; Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850 (finding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) acts as 14 a “safety-valve” preventing dismissal of a prisoner’s IFP case based solely on a “failure to 15 pay ... due to the lack of funds available to him when payment is ordered.”). The $350 total 16 fee owed in this case must be collected by the Secretary of the California Department of 17 Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”), or any subsequent agency having custody of 18 Plaintiff, and forwarded to the Clerk of the Court pursuant to the installment payment 19 provisions set out in 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2). 20 II. Screening Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) & 1915A 21 A. Standard of Review 22 Because Plaintiff is a prisoner and is proceeding IFP, his Complaint requires a 23 preliminary screening pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and § 1915A(b). Under these 24 statutes, the Court must review and sua sponte dismiss an IFP complaint, and any 25 complaint filed by a prisoner seeking redress from a governmental entity, or officer or 26 employee of a governmental entity, which is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim, or 27 seeks damages from defendants who are immune. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126- 28 27 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc) (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)); Rhodes v. Robinson, 621 1 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2010) (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)). “The purpose of 2 [screening] is ‘to ensure that the targets of frivolous or malicious suits need not bear the 3 expense of responding.’” Nordstrom v. Ryan, 762 F.3d 903, 920 n.1 (9th Cir.

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Lee v. Maranda, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lee-v-maranda-casd-2022.