Weeces v. Saul ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 FRANK W, Case No.: 20cv1439-KSC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION 13 v. TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS [DOC. NO. 5.] 14 ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, 15 Defendant. 16 17 18 On July 27, 2020, plaintiff Frank W. commenced an action against Andrew M. 19 Saul, the Acting Commissioner of Social Security, seeking review of a final adverse 20 decision of the Commissioner. [Doc. No. 1.] Plaintiff also filed an Application to Proceed 21 with the Complaint in forma pauperis. [Doc. No. 2.] On August 4, 2020, plaintiff filed 22 an Amended Application to Proceed in forma pauperis. [Doc. No. 5.] 23 A court may authorize the commencement of a suit without prepayment of fees if 24 the plaintiff submits an affidavit, including a statement of all his or her assets, showing 25 that he or she is unable to pay the filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). The affidavit must 26 “state the facts as to [the] affiant's poverty with some particularity, definiteness and 27 certainty.” United States v. McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 (9th Cir.1981) (internal 28 quotations omitted). 1 A party need not be completely destitute to proceed in forma pauperis. Adkins v. 2 DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339-340 (1948). An affidavit is adequate 3 it shows that the applicant cannot pay the fee “and still be able to provide himself [or 4 ||herself] and dependents with the necessities of life.” Jd. (internal quotations omitted). 5 Here, plaintiff's Application indicates he is unemployed and has no income or 6 assets. [Doc. No. 5, p. 1-3.] The Application also indicates plaintiffs most recent 7 |}employment was in 2017 at a convalescent hospital, where he earned $1,600.00 per 8 ||month. Therefore, the Court finds that plaintiff has sufficiently shown he lacks the 9 || financial resources to pay the filing fee. Accordingly, 10 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT plaintiff's Application to Proceed with his 11 ||Complaint in forma pauperis is GRANTED. [Doc. No. 5.] 12 ||Dated: August 6, 2020 Sb i ; ~)) 13 Mie» —__z_Z_Z=_ 14 Hon. Karen S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28