(PC) Botts v. Corcoran State Prison ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 D’RON BOTTS, Case No. 1:20-cv-01718-JLT (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR WAIVER OF FILING FEE AND 13 v. DIRECTING CLERK OF THE COURT TO CLOSE CASE 14 CORCORAN STATE PRISON, et al., (Doc. 18) 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding in forma pauperis, has filed a motion to “drop this 18 suit.” (Doc. 18.) The Court construes the motion as a notice of voluntary dismissal. Pursuant to 19 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1), a “plaintiff may dismiss an action without a court order 20 by filing . . . a notice of dismissal before the opposing party serves either an answer or a motion 21 for summary judgment.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i). Once a notice of dismissal under Rule 22 41(a)(1) is properly filed, no order of the court is necessary to effectuate dismissal; the dismissal 23 is effective automatically. Com. Space Mgmt. Co. v. Boeing Co., 193 F.3d 1074, 1078 (9th Cir. 24 1999). Because Plaintiff has filed a notice of dismissal, and no opposing party has filed an answer 25 or a motion for summary judgment, this action has terminated. Accordingly, the Court DIRECTS 26 the Clerk of the Court to close this case. 27 Plaintiff additionally requests that the Court not “charge [him] for this case.” (Doc. 18 at 1.) Prisoners proceeding in forma pauperis are “required to pay the full amount of a filing fee” of 1 any civil action they initiate. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). The in forma pauperis statute provides that 2 prisoners “shall be required to pay the full amount of a filing fee,” and the “the prisoner shall be 3 required to make monthly payments of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income.” 28 U.S.C. § 4 1915(b)(1)-(2) (emphases added). Therefore, according to the statute, the Court does not have 5 discretion to waive the filing fee for this action. The filing fee obligations and payment amounts 6 are mandatory. See, e.g., Soares v. Paramo, No. 3:13-cv-02971-BTM-RBB, 2018 WL 5962728, 7 at *2 (S.D. Cal. 2018); Cartwright v. Sparks, No. 1:94-cv-06044-AWI, 2012 WL 394175, at *1 8 (E.D. Cal. 2012); Adams v. Maricopa Cty. Sheriff's Office, No. 2:10-cv-01558-PHX-RCB, 2010 9 WL 4269528, at *1-2 (D. Ariz. 2010). Accordingly, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s motion for a 10 waiver of the filing fee. 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 13 Dated: August 31, 2021 _ /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston CHIEF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27