1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 STEVEN WAYNE BONILLA, Case No.: 3:22-cv-01855-JAH-LR CDCR #J-48500, 12 ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL Plaintiff, 13 ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE vs. FOR FAILING TO PAY 14 FILING FEE REQUIRED 15 BY 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) AND/OR ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT FAILING TO MOVE TO PROCEED 16 ATTORNEY’S OFFICE; IN FORMA PAUPERIS JOHN DOE 1 to 1000, 17 PURSUANT TO Defendants. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) 18 19 20 Plaintiff Steven Wayne Bonilla, proceeding pro se and currently incarcerated at 21 California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, has filed a civil rights action pursuant 22 to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Compl., ECF No. 1. 23 Plaintiff requests compensatory damages, moves to vacate his conviction in 24 Alameda County Superior Court, and seeks to discharge his “false imprisonment” based 25 on claims that prosecutors “deliberately and knowingly fabricated false evidence” and 26 conspired with other unnamed public officials, including judges, to deny him due process. 27 Id. at 3, 7; see also ECF 1-2 at 5‒9. 28 /// 1 I. Failure to Pay Filing Fee or Request IFP Status 2 All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the 3 United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of 4 $402. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a).1 An action may proceed despite a failure to pay the entire 5 fee only if the plaintiff is granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 6 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007); 7 Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, if the plaintiff is a 8 prisoner, and even if he is granted leave to proceed IFP, he remains obligated to pay the 9 entire filing fee in “increments,” see Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 10 2015), regardless of whether his case is ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) 11 & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). 12 Plaintiff has not paid the $402 in filing and administrative fees required to commence 13 this civil action, nor has he filed a Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). 14 Therefore, his case cannot proceed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); Andrews, 493 F.3d at 1051. 15 II. Conclusion and Order 16 Accordingly, the Court: (1) DISMISSES this civil action without prejudice for 17 failure to pay the $402 civil filing and administrative fee or to submit a Motion to Proceed 18 IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) and § 1915(a); and (2) GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five 19 (45) days leave from the date this Order is filed to: (a) pay the entire $402 civil filing and 20 administrative fee in full; or (b) complete and file a Motion to Proceed IFP which includes 21 a certified copy of his trust account statement for the 6-month period preceding the filing 22 of his Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D. Cal. Civ. L.R. 3.2(b). 23 /// 24 25 26 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative 27 fee of $52. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. Dec. 1, 2020)). The additional $52 administrative fee does 28 1 The Court further DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to provide Plaintiff with this 2 Court’s approved form “Motion and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed In Forma 3 Pauperis.” If Plaintiff fails to either prepay the $402 civil filing fee or complete and file 4 the enclosed Motion to Proceed IFP with the Clerk within 45 days, this case will remain 5 dismissed without prejudice pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) and without further Order of 6 the Court.2 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 9 Dated: November 28, 2022 10 Hon. John A. Houston United States District Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 2 Plaintiff is cautioned that if he chooses to re-open this case by either prepaying the full $402 civil filing fee, or by submitting a properly supported Motion to Proceed IFP, his 22 Complaint will be screened before service and may be dismissed sua sponte pursuant to 28 23 U.S.C. § 1915A(b) and/or 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B), regardless of whether he has paid the full $402 filing fee at once, or is granted leave to proceed IFP and is obligated to pay 24 the full filing fee in installments. See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126‒27 (9th Cir. 25 2000) (en banc) (noting that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e) “not only permits but requires” the court to sua sponte dismiss an in forma pauperis complaint that is frivolous, malicious, fails to 26 state a claim, or seeks damages from defendants who are immune); see also Rhodes v. 27 Robinson, 621 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2010) (discussing similar screening required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915A of all complaints filed by prisoners “seeking redress from a 28