Hardy v. Davis et al

Filing 167

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes on 09/01/22 DENYING 162 Request for partial return of fees. (Plummer, M)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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KRISTIN HARDY,

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No. 2:13-cv-0726 JAM DB P

Plaintiff,

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v.

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C. DAVIS, et al.,

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ORDER

Defendants.

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Plaintiff, a state prisoner, was previously proceeding pro se with a civil rights action under

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28 U.S.C. §1983. On December 30, 2021, parties filed a stipulation of dismissal and indicated

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that they had reached a settlement agreement in this case. (ECF No. 159; see ECF No. 160 at 2.)

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The case was dismissed pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

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(See ECF No. 161.)

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Plaintiff has now filed a request for partial refund of fees. (ECF No. 162.) In his request,

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plaintiff states that upon conclusion of the present action, he received $3,200.00 from defendants

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via direct deposit as agreed upon in the settlement agreement. (Id. at 1.) Plaintiff claims that

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following this deposit, prison officials deducted “around 1,006 dollars to pay court filing fees in

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full.” (Id. at 2.) Plaintiff states that this exceeds the maximum amount set by the court and 28

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U.S.C. §1915(b)(2). (Id.) Defendants’ counsel filed a declaration opposing plaintiff’s request

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and included a copy of the plaintiff’s inmate trust account statement. (ECF No. 163.) Plaintiff

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filed a reply to the defendants’ declaration. (ECF No. 164.)
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Based on the statements in plaintiff’s motion and the information provided by defense

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counsel it appears that plaintiff received settlement payment of $3,200.00 on February 24, 2022.

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(ECF No. 162 at 1; ECF No. 163 at 12.) Twenty percent of this amount is $640.00. (See ECF

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No. 162 at 2.) On March 1, 2022, a total of $1,007.10 was removed from plaintiff’s inmate trust

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account in connection with outstanding court fees in three cases. (ECF No. 162 at 2; ECF No.

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163 at 12.) Based on the inmate trust account statement, these amounts individually were

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$344.77, $312.37, and $350.00. (ECF No. 163 at 12.)

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Under 28 U.S.C. §1915(b)(2), a prisoner is required to make payments on court fees equal
to “20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited to the prisoner’s account.” However,

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recoupment of filing fees from multiple cases is “simultaneous, not sequential”. Bruce v.

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Samuels, 577 U.S. 82, 87 (2016). Additionally, the twenty percent is deducted “for each action”

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where court fees are owed. Bruce, 577 U.S. at 90. This means that where a plaintiff owes court

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fees in multiple cases, the maximum amount deducted from a each individual case is limited to

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twenty percent of the previous month’s income but the total amount deducted for all cases is not

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capped in this manner. Id.

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Here, the three amounts deducted from plaintiff’s trust account—$344.77, $312.37, and

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$350.00—did not individually exceed twenty percent of plaintiff’s preceding month’s income

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from the settlement agreement, or $640.00. (See ECF No. 163 at 12.) As such, it appears the

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amounts deducted for payment of court fees did not violate 28 U.S.C. §1915(b)(2) or any order of

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this court. See Bruce, 577 U.S. at 90.

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s request for partial return of fees

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(ECF No. 162) is denied.

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Dated: September 1, 2022

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DB:14
DB:1/Orders/Prisoner/Civil_Rights/R/hard0726.fees

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