Mimms v. Becerra

Filing 3

ORDER: 1) Denying Motion to Proceed in Forma Pauperis [ECF No. 2 ] and 2) Dismissing Civil Action as Frivolous Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1). Signed by Judge Larry Alan Burns on 11/15/2017.(lrf)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JARED BENJAMIN MIMMS,
Booking #17141130,

ORDER:

Plaintiff,

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Case No.: 3:17-cv-02001-LAB-KSC

vs.

1) DENYING MOTION TO
PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS
[ECF No. 2]

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XAVIER BECERRA,
AND

Defendant.

2) DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION
AS FRIVOLOUS PURSUANT
TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)

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JARED BENJAMIN MIMMS (“Plaintiff”), currently detained at San Diego

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Central Jail (“SDCJ”) and proceeding pro se, has filed a two-page Complaint against

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California State Attorney General Xavier Becerra seeking $29 million in damages based

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on his alleged involvement in a treasonous plot to kidnap Plaintiff for ransom in order to

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“steal [his] fame.” See ECF No. 1 at 1-2.

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Plaintiff has not prepaid the $400 filing fee required to commence civil action

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pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a), instead has he filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma

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Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See ECF No. 2.
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I.

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Motion to Proceed IFP
All parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a district court of the

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United States, except an application for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of

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$400. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). 1 An action may proceed despite a plaintiff’s failure to

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prepay the entire fee only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915(a). See Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). However, if the

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plaintiff is a prisoner at the time of filing, he may be granted leave to proceed IFP, but he

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nevertheless remains obligated to pay the entire fee in “increments,” see Williams v.

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Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), regardless of whether his action is

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ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d

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844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002). A “prisoner” is defined as “any person” who at the time of

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filing is “incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of,

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sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms or

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conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program.” 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915(h); Taylor, 281 F.3d at 847.

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In order to comply with the PLRA, prisoners seeking leave to proceed IFP must

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also submit a “certified copy of the[ir] trust fund account statement (or institutional

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equivalent) ... for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.”

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28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). From the certified trust account statement, the Court assesses an

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initial payment of 20% of (a) the average monthly deposits in the account for the past six

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months, or (b) the average monthly balance in the account for the past six months,

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whichever is greater, unless the prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), (4);

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see Taylor, 281 F.3d at 850. Thereafter, the institution having custody of the prisoner

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collects subsequent payments, assessed at 20% of the preceding month’s income, in any

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In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative
fee of $50. See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court
Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. June. 1, 2016). The additional $50 administrative fee does
not apply to persons granted leave to proceed IFP. Id.
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month in which the prisoner’s account exceeds $10, and forwards them to the Court until

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the entire filing fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2).

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While Plaintiff has filed a Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a),

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he has not attached a certified copy of his SDCJ trust account statements for the 6-month

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period immediately preceding the filing of his Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2);

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S.D. CAL. CIVLR 3.2. Section 1915(a)(2) clearly requires that prisoners “seeking to bring

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a civil action ... without prepayment of fees ... shall submit a certified copy of the trust

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fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) ... for the 6-month period

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immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) (emphasis

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added).

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Without Plaintiff’s trust account statements, Plaintiff’s IFP Motion is incomplete

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and must be DENIED because the Court is unable to assess the appropriate amount of the

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initial filing fee statutorily required to initiate the prosecution of this action. See 28

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U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1).

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II.

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Screening of Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A
In addition, while the Court would ordinarily grant Plaintiff leave to correct his IFP

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Motion’s deficiencies, it instead finds it appropriate to screen his Complaint pursuant to

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28 U.S.C. § 1915A because at the time of filing Plaintiff was, and remains, “incarcerated

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or detained in any facility [because he] is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or

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adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms or conditions of parole,

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probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program.” Olivas v. Nevada ex rel. Dept. of

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Corr., 856 F.3d 1281, 1284 (9th Cir. 2017) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(h), 1915A(c); 42

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U.S.C. § 1997e(h)).

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Section 1915A “mandates early review—‘before docketing [] or [] as soon as

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practicable after docketing’—for all complaints ‘in which a prisoner seeks redress from a

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governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.’” Chavez v.

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Robinson, 817 F.3d 1162, 1168 (9th Cir. 2016). The mandatory screening provisions of

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§ 1915A apply to all prisoners, no matter their fee status, who bring suit against a
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governmental entity, officer, or employee. See, e.g. Resnick v. Hayes, 213 F.3d 443, 446-

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47 (9th Cir. 2000). “On review, the court shall … dismiss the complaint, or any portion of

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the complaint,” if it “(1) is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief

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may be granted; or (2) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such

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relief.” Olivas, 856 F.3d at 1283 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)). “The purpose of

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§ 1915A is to ‘ensure that the targets of frivolous or malicious suits need not bear the

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expense of responding.’” Nordstrom v. Ryan, 762 F.3d 903, 907 n.1 (9th Cir. 2014)

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(quoting Wheeler v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc., 689 F.3d 680, 681 (7th Cir. 2012)).

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A pleading is “factual[ly] frivolous[]” if “the facts alleged rise to the level of the

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irrational or the wholly incredible, whether or not there are judicially noticeable facts

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available to contradict them.” Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 25-26 (1992). Section

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1915 gives courts “the unusual power to pierce the veil” of a Complaint like Plaintiff’s

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and to “dismiss those claims whose factual contentions are clearly baseless.” Neitzke v.

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Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327 (1989)). Clearly baseless factual allegations include those

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“that are ‘fanciful,’ ‘fantastic,’ and ‘delusional.’” Denton, 504 U.S. at 32-33 (quoting

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Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 325, 327, 328).

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Plaintiff invokes no arguable legal basis for his suit. What is more, his factual

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allegations are plainly frivolous. Id.; see also O’Loughlin v. Doe, 920 F.2d 614, 617 (9th

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Cir. 1990) (“An in forma pauperis complaint is frivolous if it has no arguable basis in fact

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or law.” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). For example, Plaintiff claims he

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is a “political prisoner” and related to President Donald Trump “by way of relational

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business in real estate,” and due to his technological invention. See ECF No. 1 at 1.

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Plaintiff further contends California’s Attorney General “and his people” have “taken a

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fake statute to court” in order to “beat and kill ugly Plaintiff at [his] own expense” as part

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of a treasonous plot to “ransom Plaintiff’s legal capital against President Donald Trump.”

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Id. at 2.

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While conclusory, disjointed, and incoherent, these allegations also appear

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grounded in delusion, are facially irrational, and wholly incredible. Therefore, Plaintiff’s

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Complaint demands sua sponte dismissal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1). See

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Denton, 504 U.S. at 25-26; Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 324; see also Suess v. Obama, 2017 WL

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1371289, at *2 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 10, 2017) (dismissing as frivolous complaint alleging

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conspiracy among President, CIA, and FBI to torment plaintiff over six year period);

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Frost v. Vasan, No. 16-CV-05883 NC, 2017 WL 2081094, at *1 (N.D. Cal. May 15,

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2017) (dismissing as frivolous claims against a United States Senator, a university, two

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corporate entities, and additional unspecified defendants for having allegedly conspired

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with a secret elite group of businessmen and the CIA to torment him); Sierra v. Moon,

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2012 WL 423483, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 8, 2012) (dismissing as frivolous an alleged

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conspiracy by defendants with ex-military and CIA to defraud plaintiffs’ interests and

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murder him); Demos v. United States, 2010 WL 4007527, at *2 (D. Ore. Oct. 8, 2010)

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(dismissing as frivolous complaint alleging plaintiff was captured by pirates disguised as

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law enforcement officers); Reid v. Mabus, 2015 WL 9855875, at *1 (D. Ore. Nov. 16,

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2015) (dismissing complaint alleging a massive conspiracy targeting 300,000 individuals

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with “electronic harassment”).

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If a Plaintiff’s claims are classified as frivolous, “there is by definition no merit to

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the underlying action and so no reason to grant leave to amend.” Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d

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1122, 1127 n.8 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc).

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III.

Conclusion and Order

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For the reasons discussed, the Court:

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1)

DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP [ECF No. 2];

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2)

DISMISSES this civil action as frivolous pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

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§ 1915A(b)(1);

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3)

CERTIFIES that an IFP appeal would not be taken in good faith pursuant

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to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3); and

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3:17-cv-02001-LAB-KSC

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4)

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to close the file.

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DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to enter a final judgment of dismissal and

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: November 15, 2017

_______________________________________
HON. LARRY ALAN BURNS
United States District Judge

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