Amawi v. Walton et al

Filing 113

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER, The Court ORDERS that the plaintiff shall have up to and including February 21, 2014, to pay the entire initial partial filing fee of $6.14; The Court STAYS this case until further order of the Court; andWARNS the plaintiff that if he does not pay the entire initial partial filing fee of $6.14 by February 21, 2014, the Court will dismiss this case without prejudice.Signed by Judge J. Phil Gilbert on 1/31/2014. (jdh)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
MOHAMMED ZAKI AMAWI,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 13-cv-866-JPG-PMF

J.S. WALTON, et al.,
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter comes before the Court for case management purposes. Plaintiff Mohammed
Zaki Amawi signed his complaint on August 12, 2013, and it was received by the Court and
docketed on August 21, 2013 (Doc. 1). The Court has allowed the plaintiff to proceed in this case
without prepayment of fees and has assessed an initial partial filing fee of $6.14 pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) (Doc. 7). The Court calculated this filing fee after considering the average
monthly balance or deposits in the plaintiff’s account for the six-month period immediately
preceding the filing of the complaint. The plaintiff began that period with a balance of $50.01.
He then spent the vast majority of that balance on commissary purchases, phone and electronic
messages and a $61.00 withdrawal of personal funds, leaving him with only $3.60 in his account
when he filed this lawsuit on August 21, 2013. The Court further notes that the plaintiff received
approximately $14.00 per month for his prison job during that period and $140.00 in other income.
Amawi has made no payments toward the initial partial filing fee assessed at the outset of this case.
It is clear that within the six months before the plaintiff filed this suit, he was capable of
paying $6.14 to the Court. At that time he also should have expected to be liable for the sum due
in light of the substantial balances in his account in the six months prior to filing suit; he could
have easily calculated the initial partial filing fee (or at least a ballpark figure) based on his account

history and the formula set forth in the statute. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). That the plaintiff
made the financial decision to spend his money and not to save it to pay for this lawsuit is a
decision the plaintiff must live with. If a prisoner’s account received ample funds to pay the
required fee at the required time but he spent the money on other things, the prisoner’s case can be
dismissed for noncompliance with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). See Robbins v. Switzer, 104 F.3d 895,
898 (7th Cir. 1997). “Requiring prisoners to make economic decisions about filing lawsuits does
not deny access to the courts; it merely places the indigent prisoner in a position similar to that
faced by those whose basic costs of living are not paid by the state.” Roller v. Gunn, 107 F.3d
227, 233 (4th Cir. 1997), quoted in Miller v. Hardy, 497 Fed. App’x 618, 621 (7th Cir. 2012).
However, rather than dismissing this case at the present time, the Court will give the plaintiff
additional time to pay the fee due and will stay this case in the meantime.
Accordingly, the Court:


ORDERS that the plaintiff shall have up to and including February 21, 2014, to pay the
entire initial partial filing fee of $6.14;



STAYS this case until further order of the Court; and



WARNS the plaintiff that if he does not pay the entire initial partial filing fee of $6.14 by
February 21, 2014, the Court will dismiss this case without prejudice.

IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: January 31, 2014
s/J. Phil Gilbert
J. PHIL GILBERT
DISTRICT JUDGE

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