Doe et al v. Gill et al

Filing 9

ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR GUARDIAN AD LITEM AND REQUESTING A FINANCIAL DECLARATION FROM PLAINTIFF'S GUARDIAN AD LITEM. Signed by Judge Joseph C. Spero on October 3, 2011. (jcslc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/3/2011)

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1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 8 JANE DOE, A Minor, by and through her Guardian ad Litem, WILFRED SCOTT, Case No. C-11-04759 JCS 9 Plaintiff, v. 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR GUARDIAN AD LITEM AND REQUESTING A FINANCIAL DECLARATION FROM PLAINTIFF’S GUARDIAN AD LITEM RYAN GILL, et al., 12 13 Defendants. ___________________________________/ 14 15 I. 16 INTRODUCTION On September 23, 2011, Wayne Johnson, counsel for Jane Doe, filed a petition to appoint 17 Wilfred Scott to serve as Jane Doe’s Guardian ad Litem in the above-entitled action (“Petition”). An 18 Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis was filed on the same day. For the reasons set forth 19 below, the Court GRANTS the Petition and requests further information in support of the 20 Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. 21 II. 22 THE PETITION Wilfred Scott, “Husband of the Aunt of the Minor,” has attested in the Petition that he “is 23 fully competent to understand and qualified to protect the rights of the minor.” Petition at ¶¶ 4, 7. 24 Mr. Scott has further declared that he “is willing to serve as the guardian ad litem for the minor and 25 has no interest adverse to that of the minor.” Id. at ¶ 7. For these reasons, and because the Court has 26 received no opposition to the Petition, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Wilfred Scott is appointed as 27 Guardian ad Litem for Plaintiff Jane Doe. 28 1 III. 2 THE APPLICATION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS Title 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) requires that a party seeking to proceed in forma pauperis submit 3 an affidavit declaring that “he is unable to pay” Court costs. The minor plaintiff in this action has 4 submitted a declaration of her inability to pay. The guardian ad litem, however, has not submitted 5 any evidence of an inability to pay. “[W]here leave to proceed in forma pauperis is sought to 6 vindicate the alleged substantive rights of a minor, the financial resources of both the minor and the 7 volunteer parent, next friend, or guardian ad litem should be considered in determining ability to pay 8 the costs of litigation.” Cottingham v. Bd. of Educ. of the Emery Unified Sch. Dist., et al., 1993 WL 9 79698, at *1 (N.D. Cal. March 15, 1993) (citing Williams v. Spencer, 455 F.Supp. 205, 209 (D. Md. 11 For the Northern District of California United States District Court 10 1978)). Accordingly, Wilfred Scott is requested to complete the Court’s standard form in support of 12 the Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, providing his own financial information, no later than 13 Monday, October 17, 2011. 14 IT IS SO ORDERED. 15 16 Dated: October 3, 2011 _______________________________ JOSEPH C. SPERO United States Magistrate Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

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