Cristo v. US Securities and Exchange Comission ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CONSTANTINE GUS CRISTO, Case No.: 19cv1910-GPC(MDD) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S 13 v. APPLICATION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 14 U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION; FINANCIAL 15 [Dkt. No. 2.] INDUSTRY REGULATORY 16 AUTHORITY; JAY CLAYTON, in his official capacity as Chairman of the U.S. 17 Securities and Exchange Commission; 18 WILLIAM BARR, in his official capacity as United States Attorney General; 19 ROBERT W. COOK, President and Chief 20 Executive Officer of FINRA; SEC employees DOE 1-20; and FINRA 21 employers DOE 1-20, 22 Defendants. 23 24 Plaintiff Constantine Gus Cristo (“Plaintiff”) filed a complaint for declaratory and 25 injunctive relief challenging the constitutionality of the Securities and Exchange 26 Commission’s arbitration proceedings. (Dkt. No. 1.) Accompanying the complaint is 27 Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis. (Dkt. No. 2.) 28 1 All parties instituting any civil action, suit, or proceeding in a district court of 2 the United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee 3 of $400. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a).1 An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure 4 to prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to § 1915(a). 5 See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); Rodriguez v. Cook, 6 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). The plaintiff must submit an affidavit 7 demonstrating his inability to pay the filing fee, and the affidavit must include a 8 complete statement of the plaintiff’s assets. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). 9 Plaintiff reports retirement income of $897.00/month, gifts of $100/month and has 10 $500 in his bank account. (Dkt. No. 2.) However, he also has $1,046.02 in 11 monthly living expenses. (Id. at 4-5.) Plaintiff further claims he has no real property, 12 vehicles or other assets. (Id. at 2-3.) Therefore, based on his declaration indicating no 13 surplus income, the Court GRANTS his application to proceed IFP. Accordingly, IT IS 14 HEREBY ORDERED that, 15 1. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to issue a summons with respect to 16 Plaintiff’s Complaint, [Dkt. No. 1], upon Defendants. The Clerk should then provide 17 Plaintiff with the summons. When sending the summons to Plaintiff, the Clerk of Court 18 should include with the summons: (a) one new blank U.S. Marshal Form 285 for 19 Defendants; (b) a letter instructing Plaintiff on how to complete this Form 285; (c) a 20 certified copy of the Order granting Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis; and 21 (d) a certified copy of the Complaint, Dkt. No. 1. Together, the summons and additional 22 documents are Plaintiff’s “IFP Package.” 23 2. Plaintiff is DIRECTED to complete the following actions to aid the U.S. 24 Marshal in serving his Complaint: 25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative fee of $50. 27 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2014)). The additional $50 administrative fee does not apply to persons granted leave to 28 1 a. First, upon receiving the IFP Package, Plaintiff must complete the IFP 2 package, including the U.S. Marshal Form 285, as accurately as possible. 3 b. Second, Plaintiff must return the completed IFP package and Form 4 285 to the U.S. Marshal according to the instructions provided by the Clerk’s 5 letter. 6 c. Third, Plaintiff must include on the Form 285 an address where the 7 U.S. Marshal can serve Defendants. See S.D. Cal. CivLR 4.1.c. 8 3. Plaintiff is FURTHER DIRECTED to complete the following actions for all 9 of his future filings in this case: 10 a. Plaintiff must serve upon Defendants and their attorneys, if 11 Defendants obtain an attorney, a copy of every pleading or document that Plaintiff 12 files with the Court in this case. 13 b. For every future filing with the Court in his case, Plaintiff must 14 include a certificate of service which states: 15 i. How he served a true and correct copy of that filing on 16 Defendants, and 17 ii. The date when Defendants were served. 18 c. Any paper received by the Court which has not been properly filed 19 with the Clerk, or which fails to include a Certificate of Service, may be 20 disregarded. 21 4. Upon receipt, the U.S. Marshal is ORDERED to serve a copy of the 22 Complaint and summons upon Defendants as directed by Plaintiff on his completed U.S. 23 Marshal Form 285. All costs of service will be advanced by the United States. See 28 24 U.S.C. § 1915(d); Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(3). 25 26 27 28 1 2 IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 4 ||Dated: December 27, 2019 <= 6 United States District Judge 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28