Rosales v. Martinez

District Court, S.D. California·Decided July 9, 2025·No. 3:25-cv-00841·Unknown

Opinion

MIGUEL ROSALES, Case No.: 25-cv-00841-RSH-MMP Booking #24744369, ORDER: Plaintiff, v. (1) GRANTING MOTION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS

M. MARTINEZ, County Jail Nurse, et al., (2) DENYING MOTION FOR Defendants. APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL AND

(3) DIRECTING U.S. MARSHAL TO EFFECT SERVICE OF PROCESS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) AND Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(3)

[ECF Nos. 2, 3] Plaintiff Miguel Rosales, proceeding without counsel while detained at the San Diego Central Jail (“SDCJ”), has filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ECF No. 1. Plaintiff claims two SDCJ nurses failed to respond to his complaints of chest pain and difficulty breathing for two consecutive days in November 2024, and he required emergency transport to the emergency room at an outside hospital as a result. Id. at 2‒4. Plaintiff has not paid the filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), but instead has filed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). ECF No. 2. He also requests appointment of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). ECF No. 3. For the reasons explained, the Court grants Plaintiff’s motion to proceed IFP, denies his motion for appointment of counsel, screens his complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2) and 1915A(a), and directs the U.S. Marshal to effect service of process on his behalf pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(3). All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of $405.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed despite a failure to pay the entire fee at the time of filing only if the court grants the Plaintiff leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); cf. Hymas v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 73 F.4th 763, 765 (9th Cir. 2023) (“[W]here [an] IFP application is denied altogether, Plaintiff’s case [cannot] proceed unless and until the fee[s] [a]re paid.”). “While the previous version of the IFP statute granted courts the authority to waive fees for any person ‘unable to pay[,]’ … the PLRA [Prison Litigation Reform Act] amended the IFP statute to include a carve-out for prisoners.” Hymas, 73 F.4th at 767. Namely, under the current version of the IFP statute, “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.’” Id. (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)). Section 1915(b) “provides a structured timeline for collecting this fee.” Id. (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)-(2)). 1 In civil actions except for applications for a writ of habeas corpus, civil litigants bringing suit must pay the $350 statutory fee in addition to a $55 administrative fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14). However, the $55 administrative fee does not apply to persons granted To proceed IFP, prisoners must “submit[] an affidavit that includes a statement of all assets [they] possess[,]” as well as a “certified copy of the[ir] trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for … the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), (2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). Using this financial information, the court “shall assess and when funds exist, collect, . . . an initial partial filing fee,” which is “calculated based on ‘the average monthly deposits to the prisoner’s account’ or ‘the average monthly balance in the prisoner’s account’ over a 6-month term; the remainder of the fee is to be paid in ‘monthly payments of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited to the prisoner’s account.’” Hymas, 73 F.4th at 767 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)-(2)). Thus, while prisoners may qualify to proceed IFP without having to pay the statutory filing fee in one lump sum, they nevertheless remain obligated to pay the full amount due in monthly payments. See Bruce v. Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 84 (2016); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). Plaintiff’s IFP application complies with both 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1) and (2). In support, he has submitted a copy of his San Diego Sheriff’s Department Account Activity statement as well as a prison certificate issued by a Sheriff’s Detentions Department Lieutenant. See ECF No. 2 at 6‒7; see also S.D. Cal. CivLR 3.2; Andrews, 398 F.3d at 1119. These statements show that while Plaintiff had an average monthly deposit of $96.66 to his account, he had an available balance of only $.07 to his credit at the time of filing. ECF No. 2 at 6, 7. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion to proceed IFP and assesses no initial partial filing fee pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) (providing that “[i]n no event shall a prisoner be prohibited from bringing a civil action or appealing a civil action or criminal judgment for the reason that the prisoner has no assets and no means by which to pay [an] initial partial filing fee”); Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850 (finding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) acts as a “safety-valve” preventing dismissal of a prisoner’s IFP case based solely on “failure to pay . . . due to the lack of funds available to him when payment is ordered”). The SDCJ, or any agency later having custody, must hereafter collect the full balance of the $350 total fee owed in this case and forward payments to the Clerk of Court as provided by 28 U.S.C. §

Rosales v. Martinez, (S.D. Cal. 2025).

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