Daugherty v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration ( 2023 )

1 WO 2 3 4 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 6 7 Michelle Daugherty, No. CV-23-00105-TUC-JCH 8 Plaintiff, ORDER 9 v. 10 Commissioner of Social Security Administration, 11 Defendant. 12 13 On March 2, 2023, Plaintiff filed a Complaint and Application to Proceed In Forma 14 Pauperis (“IFP Application”). Docs. 1, 2. The matter was assigned to the Honorable Maria 15 S. Aguilera. Doc. 4. A party elected assignment to the District Court and the matter was 16 reassigned to the undersigned on March 9, 2023. Docs. 10, 11. 17 The Court has reviewed Plaintiff's IFP Application. Doc. 2. The Court finds that 18 Plaintiff has shown she is unable to pay the fees without hardship as required by 28 U.S.C. 19 § 1915(a). “An applicant need not ‘be absolutely destitute to enjoy the benefit of the statute 20 ... [or to face spending] the last dollar they have or can get, and thus make themselves and 21 their dependents wholly destitute’ to proceed with their claim.” See Adkins v. E.I. DuPont 22 de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339 (1948). With her spouse's income, Plaintiff's 23 household’s monthly expenses total $3,087.00 and nearly exceeds their household’s total 24 gross income $3,096.00. (Doc. 10 at 2.) Neither their combined monthly income, nor 25 Plaintiff's assets, are sufficient to cover the $402 filing fee. Id. 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 Accordingly, 2 IT IS ORDERED GRANTING Plaintiff's IFP Application. Doc. 2. 3 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED this case, reassigned to the Honorable John C 4|| Hinderaker, is hereby referred to Magistrate Judge Maria S. Aguilera for all pretrial proceedings and a report and recommendation in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), 6|| Fed. R. Civ. P. 72, and 72.2 of the Rules of Practice of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. All future filings in this case shall be designated: 8 9 CV-23-00105-TUC-JCH (MSA). 10 11 || Dated this 15th day of March, 2023. 12 13 14 WS herb onorable John C. Hinderaker 15 United States District Judge 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 _2-