Jones v. Astrue

Filing 5

WRITTEN Opinion entered by the Honorable Marvin E. Aspen on 2/28/2013:Presently before us is Plaintiff Mildred Jones's application to proceed in forma pauperis in her lawsuit against Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security. 4)We gr ant Plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis. (4). It is so ordered. The Clerk of the Court is directed to issue summons and complaint to plaintiff's counsel for service on defendant. A status hearing is set for 5/2/13 at 10:30 a.m. Plaintiff is to notify the defendant of status date. [ For further details see written opinion.] Mailed notice (tg, )

Order Form (01/2005)

United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Name of Assigned Judge
or Magistrate Judge

Marvin Aspen

CASE NUMBER

13 C 1174

CASE
TITLE

Sitting Judge if Other
than Assigned Judge

DATE

2/28/2013

Mildred L. Jones vs. Michael J. Astrue

DOCKET ENTRY TEXT

Presently before us is Plaintiff Mildred Jones’s application to proceed in forma pauperis in her lawsuit
against Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security. 4)We grant Plaintiff’s application to proceed in
forma pauperis. (4). It is so ordered. The Clerk of the Court is directed to issue summons and complaint to
plaintiff’s counsel for service on defendant. A status hearing is set for 5/2/13 at 10:30 a.m. Plaintiff is to
notify the defendant of status date.

O[ For further details see text below.]

Docketing to mail notices.

STATEMENT
Reserved for use by the Court)

ORDER
Presently before us is Plaintiff Mildred Jones’s application to proceed in forma pauperis in her lawsuit
against Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security. Before granting leave to file in forma pauperis, we
must first determine whether Plaintiff is indigent. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). We must also conduct an initial
review of Plaintiff’s complaint and dismiss the action if we find that: (1) it is frivolous or malicious; (2) it fails
to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or (3) it seeks damages from a defendant who is immune from
such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i)-(iii). As to the second factor, failure to state a claim, we apply the test
for dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), which requires “that a complaint contain ‘enough facts to state a claim that
is plausible on its face.’” Moore v. F.B.I., No. 07-1294, 2008 WL 2521089, at *1 (7th Cir. June 25, 2008)
(quoting Bell Atl. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S. Ct. 1955, 1974 (2007)); see also George v. Smith, 507
F.3d 605, 608 (7th Cir. 2007).
In support of her allegation of poverty, Plaintiff submitted the required financial affidavit. She states that
she has been unemployed since 2009. (Aff. ¶ 2.) She receives $1348 a month in disability insurance benefits.
(Id. ¶ 4(f).) She supports her son and daughter, both of whom live with her. (Id. ¶ 10.)
The federal poverty guidelines establish different thresholds for indigency based on family size. The
threshold for a family of one is $19,530. (See Health & Human Services 2012 Poverty Guidelines, available at
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/13poverty.cfm.) Plaintiff receives approximately $16,100 annually from her
disability insurance. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s income is under the poverty guideline. We thus find Plaintiff’s
allegation of poverty to be true.
We must next review the sufficiency of the complaint. Plaintiff alleges that the decision of the
Administrative Law Judge to deny her application for disability benefits was contrary to the evidence. (Compl.
¶¶ 4, 7.) She further states that she has exhausted her administrative remedies. (Compl. ¶ 3.) We therefore find
that Plaintiff has sufficiently stated a claim to survive this stage of review.
13C1184 Mildred L. Jones vs. Michael J. Astrue

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STATEMENT
For the foregoing reasons, we grant Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis. It is so ordered.

13C1184 Mildred L. Jones vs. Michael J. Astrue

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