Aguilar v. Kijakazi ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 FRANCISCO A., Case No.: 3:20-cv-01768-KSC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR 13 v. LEAVE TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS [DOC. NO. 2] 14 ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, 15 Defendant. 16 17 On September 9, 2020, plaintiff Francisco A. commenced an action against 18 Andrew M. Saul, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, seeking review of 19 a final adverse decision of the Commissioner. [Doc. No. 1.] Plaintiff also filed Motion for 20 Leave to Proceed in forma pauperis. [Doc. No. 2.] 21 A party need not be completely destitute to proceed in forma pauperis. Adkins v. 22 E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339–340 (1948). A court may authorize 23 the commencement of a suit without prepayment of fees if the plaintiff submits an 24 affidavit, including a statement of all his or her assets, showing that he or she is unable to 25 pay the filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). The affidavit must “state the facts as to [the] 26 affiant’s poverty with some particularity, definiteness and certainty.” United States v. 27 McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 (9th Cir.1981) (internal quotations omitted). An affidavit is 28 sufficient if it shows that the applicant cannot pay the fee “and still be able to provide 1 || himself [or herself] and dependents with the necessities of life.” Jd. (internal quotations 2 || omitted). 3 Here, plaintiff states in his affidavit that he is unemployed and has limited income 4 assets. Plaintiff’s monthly income is $666, consisting of public assistance and food 5 stamps. [Doc. No. 2 at 2.] He has no assets and he, his wife and his dependent daughter 6 ||are homeless. [/d. at 3, 5.] Plaintiff's monthly expenses, which include food, laundry, 7 transportation, pet food, and occasional hotel rooms, total $666. [/d., pp. 4-5.] Therefore, 8 ||the Court finds that plaintiff has sufficiently shown he lacks the financial resources to pay 9 ||his filing fee. Accordingly, 10 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT plaintiff's Motion for Leave to Proceed in 11 || forma pauperis is GRANTED. [Doc. No. 2.] 12 ||Dated: September 10, 2020 Jt Wl ; ~)) 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