Sekerke v. Olsen

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedSeptember 2, 2020
Docket3:20-cv-01045
StatusUnknown

This text of Sekerke v. Olsen (Sekerke v. Olsen) 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
Sekerke v. Olsen, (S.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KEITH WAYNE SEKERKE, Case No.: 20cv1045-GPC (RBB) Booking No. 18165284, 12 ORDER: Plaintiff, 13 vs. 1) GRANTING MOTION TO 14 PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS

15 [ECF No. 2]; AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF 16 DEPUTIES DANE OLSEN, ADAM 2) DISMISSING COMPLAINT FOR 17 ARKWRIGHT and MIKE LAWSON, FAILING TO STATE A CLAIM 18 Defendants. PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) AND § 1915A(b) 19 20 Plaintiff Keith Wayne Sekerke has filed this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. 21 § 1983 against San Diego County Sheriff Deputies Olsen, Arkwright and Lawson claiming 22 he was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment 23 by the conditions of confinement in disciplinary segregation at the San Diego Central Jail. 24 (ECF No. 1 at 3-10.) He alleges his placement there was based on false charges brought 25 by Defendant Olsen, that Defendants Arkwright and Lawson retained him there without 26 due process, and that he did not eat for three days when Defendant Lawson restricted his 27 diet. (Id.) Plaintiff has also filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant 28 to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). (ECF No. 2.) 1 I. Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis 2 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 3 United States must pay a filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a).1 The action may proceed 4 despite a failure to prepay the entire fee only if the plaintiff is granted leave to proceed IFP 5 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 6 2007); Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). Because Plaintiff is a 7 prisoner, even if he is granted leave to proceed IFP he will remain obligated to pay the 8 entire $350 filing fee in “increments” or “installments,” Bruce v. Samuels, 577 U.S. ___, 9 ___, 136 S.Ct. 627, 629 (2016); Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), 10 and regardless of whether his action is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) 11 & (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); Bruce, 23 136 S. Ct. at 629. 24 25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative 27 fee of $50. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. June 1, 2016). The additional $50 administrative fee does 28 1 In support of his IFP Motion, Plaintiff has submitted a prison certificate authorized 2 by a Sheriff’s Detention Lieutenant at SDCJ attesting to his trust account activity. (ECF 3 No. 2 at 4.) The certificate shows that while Plaintiff had an average monthly deposit of 4 $217.51, he carried an average monthly balance of $0 over the 6-month period preceding 5 the filing of his Complaint and had no money on account at the time of filing. (Id.) 6 Based on this accounting, the Court assesses no initial partial filing fee pursuant to 7 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1) and (b)(1) because Plaintiff appears currently unable to pay one. 8 See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) (providing that “[i]n no event shall a prisoner be prohibited 9 from bringing a civil action or appealing a civil action or criminal judgment for the reason 10 that the prisoner has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial filing fee.”); 11 Bruce, 136 S. Ct. at 630; Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850 (finding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4) acts 12 as a “safety-valve” preventing dismissal of a prisoner’s IFP case based solely on a “failure 13 to pay . . . due to the lack of funds available to him when payment is ordered.”) 14 Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP (ECF No. 2), 15 declines to exact any initial filing fee because his SDCJ certificate shows he may have “no 16 means to pay it,” Bruce, 136 S. Ct. at 629, and directs the Facility Commander at SDCJ, or 17 their designee, to collect the entire $350 balance of the filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. 18 § 1914 and forward payments to the Clerk of the Court pursuant to the installment 19 provisions set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). 20 II. Screening pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and § 1915A 21 A. Standard of Review 22 Because Petitioner is a prisoner and is proceeding IFP, his Complaint requires a pre- 23 Answer screening pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and § 1915A(b). Under these 24 statutes, the Court must sua sponte dismiss a prisoner’s IFP complaint, or any portion of it, 25 which is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim, or seeks damages from defendants who 26 are immune. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126-27 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc) 27 (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)); Rhodes v. Robinson,

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Bluebook (online)
Sekerke v. Olsen, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sekerke-v-olsen-casd-2020.