Riley v. Commissioner of Social Security

• Court: District Court, W.D. Washington
• Decided: June 2, 2020
• Docket: 3:20-cv-05499
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 CYNTHIA L. RILEY, 8 Plaintiff, Case No. C20-5499 RAJ 9 ORDER DENYING v. 10 APPLICATION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 11 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, 12 Defendant. 13 Plaintiff seeks to proceed in forma pauperis for an action seeking judicial review 14 of the administrative decision denying her application for Social Security benefits. Dkt. 15 1. For the reasons discussed below, the court DENIES plaintiff’s application to proceed 16 in forma pauperis. The district court may permit indigent litigants to proceed in forma pauperis upon 17 completion of a proper affidavit of indigence. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). “To qualify for in 18 forma pauperis status, a civil litigant must demonstrate both that the litigant is unable to 19 pay court fees and that the claims he or she seeks to pursue are not frivolous.” Ogunsalu 20 v. Nair, 117 F. App’x 522, 523 (9th Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 1051 (2005). To meet the first prong of this test, a litigant must show that he or she “cannot because of his 21 [or her] poverty pay or give security for the costs and still be able to provide himself [or 22 herself] and dependents with the necessities of life.” Adkins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours 23 & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339 (1948) (internal alterations omitted). 1 Plaintiff has not shown she is unable to pay the full filing fee to proceed with this 2 lawsuit. Her application appears to show she and her husband have monthly income of over $9,000. Dkt. 1 at 1. Plaintiff also itemizes monthly expenses totaling less than 3 $7,500. Dkt. 1 at 2. This would leave at least $1,500 available per month. While 4 plaintiff states she also “get[s] medical bills from time to time,” has some medication co- 5 payments, and pays for heating oil, gasoline, and “minor” house repairs, there is no 6 indication that these expenses total anywhere close to $1,500 per month. Id. Under the circumstances, the Court finds plaintiff has failed to demonstrate she “cannot because of 7 [her] poverty pay or give security for the costs and still be able to provide [herself] and 8 dependents with the necessities of life.” See Adkins, 335 U.S. at 339 (internal alterations 9 omitted). Should additional information or clarification alter the situation, plaintiff may 10 reapply to proceed in forma pauperis. Accordingly, plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis is DENIED 11 WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Plaintiff has 30 days from the date of this order to pay the full 12 filing fee or reapply to proceed in forma pauperis. If the filing fee or a new application is 13 not received within 30 days, the clerk’s office is instructed to dismiss this action 14 WITHOUT PREJUDICE. 15 DATED this 2nd day of June, 2020. 16 A 17 18 The Honorable Richard A. Jones United States District Judge 19

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