Townsend v. San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: June 28, 2022
• Docket: 5:22-cv-00525
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

Case 5:22-cv-00525-VBF-JPR Document 14 Filed 06/28/22 Page 1 of 3 Page ID #:74

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 RICKY L. TOWNSEND, ) Case No. EDCV 22-0525-VBF (JPR) 10 ) Plaintiff, ) 11 ) ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE DISMISSAL v. ) FOR FAILURE TO PAY INITIAL 12 ) PARTIAL FILING FEE SAN BERNARDINO CNTY. ) 13 SHERIFFS DEP’T et al., ) ) 14 Defendants. ) ) 15 16 On March 31, 2022, Plaintiff was granted permission under 28 17 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) to file the above-referenced action without 18 immediately paying the full filing fee of $350, but he was 19 ordered to pay an initial partial filing fee, in the amount of 20 $1.80, within 30 days to the Clerk of Court. To date, the 21 payment has not been received. 22 Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, all prisoners who 23 are granted in forma pauperis status to file a civil-rights 24 action must nonetheless pay the full amount of the filing fee. 25 See id. For prisoners unable to pay the filing fee at the time 26 of filing, the statute provides for the assessment and, “when 27 funds exist,” the collection of an initial fee equal to 20 28 percent of the greater of the prisoner’s average monthly account 1 Case 5:22-cv-00525-VBF-JPR Document 14 Filed 06/28/22 Page 2 of 3 Page ID #:75

1 balance or monthly deposits for the “6-month period immediately 2 preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal.” Id. 3 After payment of the initial fee, the prisoner must make monthly 4 payments equal to 20 percent of the preceding month’s income 5 credited to the account, to be forwarded when the prisoner’s 6 account balance exceeds $10. § 1915(b)(2). Under the PLRA’s 7 “safety-valve” provision, a prisoner cannot “be prohibited from 8 bringing a civil action . . . for the reason that the prisoner 9 has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial 10 filing fee.” § 1915(b)(4). 11 Under the safety-valve provision, a court may not dismiss 12 the lawsuit of a prisoner whose funds become depleted after the 13 initial partial filing fee is assessed and who can no longer pay. 14 See Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 850-51 (9th Cir. 2002). 15 In all other circumstances, however, a court may dismiss a 16 prisoner’s civil-rights action for failure to pay the initial 17 partial filing fee (or indeed any portion of the full fee). See 18 Olivares v. Marshall, 59 F.3d 109, 112 (9th Cir. 1995) (upholding 19 dismissal of action for failure to pay initial partial filing fee 20 when prisoner had enough money to buy “name brand toiletries” and 21 snacks). 22 On June 3, 2022, Plaintiff attached a new IFP request to his 23 First Amended Complaint. But he has already been granted IFP 24 status. That request, moreover, doesn’t explain why he hasn’t 25 paid the initial partial filing fee. Nor does it contain a new 26 prison-trust-account statement or a certificate by an authorized 27 28 2 ase 5:22-cv-00525-VBF-JPR Document 14 Filed 06/28/22 Page3of3 Page ID #:76

1 | officer stating how much money he has in his account.+ Thus, it 2 || cannot explain or excuse Plaintiff’s delinquency. Plaintiff has 3} violated § 1915(b) (1) and is hereby ORDERED TO SHOW CAUSE why this action should not be dismissed for his failure to timely pay 5 ]} the initial partial filing fee. 6 Plaintiff must file a response to this Order to Show Cause 7}no later than 30 days from the date of this Order. Failure to do 8 || so may result in dismissal of this action. If the initial 9} partial filing fee is received by the Court within the 30-day 10} period, no further response to this Order to Show Cause is 11 |} necessary. If Plaintiff claims that he no longer has the funds 12} in his prison account to pay the initial partial filing fee, he 13 |} must submit an updated copy of his prison trust statement showing 14] his deposits, withdrawals, and balance for the past six months. 15 16 |] DATED: June 28, 2022 fe- hreMutl~ JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH 17 U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ' It shows that in March of this year, Plaintiff requested a 26 || printout of his trust account for the prior six months. (FAC at 11 (the Court uses the pagination generated by its Case 27 Management/Electronic Case Filing system).) He received a response 28 that they are issued quarterly. (lId.) Thus, Plaintiff should have a new statement by now.