(PC) Watkins v. Tuolumne Co Sheriff ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RAYMOND C. WATKINS, No. 1:23-cv-01430-JLT-SAB (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST TO STOP DEDUCTION OF 13 v. FILING FEE FOR THIS ACTION 14 TUOLUMNE CO. SHERIFF, et al., (ECF No. 16) 15 Defendants. 16 17 On December 7, 2023, the instant action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 was 18 terminated pursuant to Plaintiff’s motion for voluntary dismissal. (ECF No. 15.) In that order, 19 On February 20, 2024, Plaintiff filed a motion “to end funds transfers.” (ECF No. 16.) In 20 his motion, Plaintiff requests that the Court order the jail to refund any money collected and to 21 stop taking money from his trust account for the filing fee in this action. (Id. at 1.) Plaintiff 22 contends that he “believes the jail has taken $36.75 or more since November.” (Id.) 23 As stated in the Court’s December 7, 2023, order no payment has been received and/or 24 collected toward the payment of the filing fee in this action. (ECF No. 15 at 2) (citing Meyers v. 25 Birdsong, 83 F.4th 1157, 1161 (9th Cir. 2023) (holding that “§ 1915(b) neither permits nor 26 requires the collection of fees” from a prisoner who seeks in forma pauperis status but whose 27 request is denied pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g)); Smith v. Dist. of Columbia, 182 F.3d 25, 29– 28 30 (D.C. Cir. 1999) (holding that prisoner whose request for in forma pauperis status was denied 1 | pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) was not required to pay filing fee out of prison account). In 2 || addition, the attachments to Plaintiff's present motion do not demonstrate that any funds have 3 || been deducted from Plaintiff's trust account for the filing fee in this action. Nonetheless, in an 4 | abundance of caution, the Court will order the California Department of Corrections and 5 || Rehabilitation to not collect any funds from Plaintiffs trust account for the filing fee in this 6 || action. 7 Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that: 8 1. Plaintiff's motion to refund money collected from his prison trust account toward 9 the filing fee for this action is denied, without prejudice; 10 2. The Court orders the Director of the California Department of Corrections and 11 Rehabilitation or a designee to stop collecting and making payments from 12 Plaintiff’s trust account to satisfy the balance of the filing fee in this action; 13 3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to serve a copy of this order on the Director, 14 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 1515 S Street, 15 Sacramento, California 95814; and 16 4. The Clerk of the Court is directed to serve a copy of this order on the Financial 17 Department of the Court. 18 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. F- 2 ee 20 | Dated: _February 22, 2024 _ OO UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28