(PC) Favor VEXATIOUS LITIGANT v. Corcoran State Prison ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 BRANDON ALEXANDER FAVOR, Case No. 1:19-cv-01325-LJO-BAM (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO PAY FILING FEE BY CREDIT CARD 13 v. (ECF No. 11) 14 CORCORAN STATE PRISON, et al., ORDER FOR CLERK TO FILE PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO PAY FILING FEE BY CREDIT 15 Defendants. CARD UNDER SEAL 16 ORDER GRANTING EXTENSION OF TIME FOR PLAINTIFF TO PAY FILING FEE 17 TWENTY-ONE (21) DAY DEADLINE 18 19 Plaintiff Brandon Alexander Favor (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in 20 this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 21 On September 25, 2019, the undersigned issued findings and recommendations that 22 Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis be denied pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) 23 and that Plaintiff be required to pay the $400.00 filing fee in full to proceed with this action. 24 (ECF No. 7.) Plaintiff filed objections on October 7, 2019. (ECF No. 8.) The District Judge 25 adopted the findings and recommendations in full on October 10, 2019, and ordered Plaintiff to 26 pay the filing fee within twenty-one days. (ECF No. 10.) 27 /// 28 /// 1 I. Motion to Pay Filing Fee by Credit Card 2 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s “Motion to Secure Application with Payment,” 3 filed October 21, 2019. (ECF No. 11.) In his motion, it appears Plaintiff is requesting that he be 4 permitted to pay the filing fee by credit card. Plaintiff has included his credit card number, 5 security authorization, and expiration date in the motion. (Id.) 6 The Court is unable to accept credit card payments from pro se parties unless the party or 7 a person who can pay on their behalf physically comes to the Clerk’s Office with a credit card for 8 payment. Plaintiff is informed that he may pay the $400.00 filing fee through an alternative 9 method, including authorizing a withdrawal from his prison trust account or a money order sent to 10 the Clerk of the Court which specifies Plaintiff’s case number. Plaintiff may also allow a third 11 party to submit the filing fee on his behalf, which may also be paid by money order or with a 12 credit card physically presented to the Clerk of the Court, as noted above. As such, Plaintiff’s 13 motion to pay the filing fee by credit card is denied. However, in light of Plaintiff’s good faith 14 attempt to pay the filing fee for this action, the Court finds it appropriate to extend the deadline 15 for Plaintiff to submit his filing fee by an alternative method. 16 II. Sealing Documents 17 Federal courts have recognized a strong presumption that judicial records are accessible to 18 the public. Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006). In the 19 case of non-dispositive motions, however, the presumption in favor of public access does not 20 apply with equal force. Id. at 1179. Thus, a showing of good cause will suffice to justify sealing 21 a non-dispositive motion. Id. at 1180. 22 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(d), a court “may order that a filing be 23 made under seal without redaction,” and the Supreme Court has acknowledged that the decision 24 to seal documents is “one best left to the sound discretion of the trial court, a discretion to be 25 exercised in light of the relevant facts and circumstances of the particular case,” Nixon v. Warner 26 Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 599 (1978). Courts should consider “the interests [of] the parties 27 in light of the public interest and the duty of the courts.” Hagestad v. Tragesser, 49 F.3d 1430, 28 1434 (9th Cir. 1995) (quoting Nixon, 435 U.S. at 602). 1 As Plaintiff’s motion is merely a request to pay the filing fee by credit card, it is clearly 2 not a dispositive motion, and therefore requires only a showing of good cause to justify sealing it. 3 See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179. The Court finds that, because the motion appears to include 4 Plaintiff’s actual credit card number, security authorization, and expiration date, good cause exists 5 to permit filing it under seal. As the motion is otherwise merely a request to pay the filing fee by 6 credit card, and is relatively short, the motion in its entirety shall be filed under seal. 7 III. Conclusion and Order 8 Accordingly, the Court HEREBY ORDERS that: 9 1. Plaintiff’s motion to pay the filing fee by submiting a credit card, (ECF No. 11), is 10 DENIED; 11 2. The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to file Plaintiff’s motion to pay the filing fee by 12 credit card, (ECF No. 11), under seal; and 13 3. The deadline for Plaintiff to pay the $400.00 filing fee is extended to twenty-one (21) 14 days from the date of service of this order. 15 IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 17 Dated: October 23, 2019 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28