Remmert v. Newsom ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 SHIRLEY V. REMMERT, EVA AL- Case No. 1:23-cv-00050-ADA-HBK ZAGHARI, 12 ORDER DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiffs, PLAINTIFF SHIRLEY REMMERT’S 13 MOTION TO PROCEED IN FORMA v. PAUPERIS 14 GAVIN NEWSOME, ET. AL., (Doc. No. 2) 15 Defendants. ORDER DIRECTING PLAINTIFFS TO PAY 16 FILING FEE OR SUBMIT FULLY COMPLETED IFP APPLICATIONS 17 30-DAY DEADLINE 18 19 20 21 22 On January 11, 2023, Plaintiffs Shirley V. Remmert (Remmert) and Eva Al-Zaghari, (Al- 23 Zaghari) initiated this action by filing a pro se complaint. (Doc. No. 1, Complaint). Both 24 Plaintiffs Rembert and Al-Zaghari signed the Complaint. (Id. at 11-12). Only Plaintiff Remmert 25 filed an application seeking to proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. (Doc. No. 2). 26 Plaintiff Remmert states she receives $1153.73 in social security each month, has $500.00 in a 27 checking or savings account, has no dependents, has no monthly expenses, but owes a “debt or 28 financial obligation” of $1.5 million for a judgment in a case number identified only as “438208.” 1 (Id. at 1-2, ¶8). 2 Except for habeas corpus actions, all parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding 3 in a district court of the United States must pay a filing fee of $350.00 and additional 4 administrative fee of $52.00 for a total filing fee of $402.00. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), (c). A 5 civil action may proceed despite a plaintiff's failure to prepay the entire fee only if the plaintiff is 6 granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). Proceeding IFP is “a 7 matter of privilege and not right.” Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1231 (9th Cir. 1984) 8 (abrogated on different grounds). While IFP applicants need not be “destitute” a showing of 9 indigence is required. Adkins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339–40 (1948). A 10 plaintiff must allege indigence “with some particularity, definiteness and certainty” before IFP 11 can be granted. United States v. McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 (9th Cir. 1981). Courts are 12 required “to assure that federal funds are not squandered to underwrite, at public expense, either 13 frivolous claims or the remonstrances of a suitor who is financially able, in whole or in material 14 part, to pull his own oar.” Temple v. Ellerthorpe, 586 F.Supp. 848, 850 (D.R.I.1984). In addition, 15 although only one filing fee needs to be paid per case, if multiple plaintiffs seek to proceed in 16 forma pauperis, each plaintiff must qualify for IFP status. Thus, each named plaintiff must 17 submit separate applications to proceed as a pauper before a court will grant multiple plaintiffs in 18 forma pauperis status in one action. See e.g. Liang v. Kallis, No. 2:21-cv-0595-JAM-CKD, 2021 19 WL 1721668, 1 (E.D. Cal. April 30, 2021). 20 Plaintiff Remmert’s application fails to provide a full and accurate picture of her financial 21 status. While Plaintiff states she owes $1.5 million for a judgment, she does not indicate when 22 the judgment was entered, whether she made any payments toward satisfying the judgment, and if 23 so, how much she pays toward the judgment, if anything, each month. Thus, the Court cannot 24 determine is Plaintiff Remmert is indigent within the meaning of the IFP statute. Additionally, 25 Plaintiff Al-Zaghari did not submit an affidavit of indigence so the Court is unable to determine 26 whether she may proceed IFP in this action. 27 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 28 1. Plaintiff Remmert’s application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. No. 2) is ] DENIED without prejudice. 2 2. If Plaintiffs Remmert and Al-Zaghari wish to proceed in this action, within thirty (30) 3 days from the date on this Order, they must either: (1) pay a single filing fee of 4 $402.00 filing fee; or, (2) if Plaintiffs both wish to proceed in forma pauperis, Plaintiff 5 Remmert must resubmit an new IFP application that provides the requisite information 6 as set forth above and Plaintiff Al-Zaghari must submit her own separate fully 7 completed IFP application. 8 7 Dated: _ January 30, 2023 Mibu Zh. foareh Back 10 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28