Rivers v. Carter et al

Filing 88

Chief Judge Patti B. Saris: ORDER entered. The Court denies Riverss request 87 for an order that he is not required to pay the filing fee. The Clerk shall send a copy of this order to the treasurer of MCI Norfolk. (PSSA, 3)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
ENZO RIVERS,
Plaintiff,
v.
SEAN CARTER, et al.,
Defendants.

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C.A. No. 12-10529-PBS

ORDER
April 22, 2013
Saris, U.S.D.J.
April 12, 2013, pro se plaintiff Enzo Rivers, who is
incarcerated at MCI Norfolk, filed an affidavit in which he asks
the Court to inform the prison treasurer that he does not have to
pay the filing fee for this action because the Court granted his
earlier-filed motion to proceed in forma pauperis.
The Court cannot grant Rivers’s request.

Under the Prison

Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), Congress has mandated that
prisoner plaintiffs pay the $350.00 filing fee, notwithstanding
the grant of in forma pauperis status.

See 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(b)(1) (“[I]f a prisoner brings a civil action or files an
appeal in forma pauperis, the prisoner shall be required to pay
the full amount of a filing fee.”).

In forma pauperis status

simply allows the prisoner to litigate his case without prepaying
the fee.

In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1)-(b), when the

Court allowed Rivers’s motion for leave to proceed in forma
pauperis, it assessed an initial partial filing fee and directed

the appropriate prison official to withdraw the initial partial
payment from the plaintiff’s account, followed by payments on a
monthly basis until the entire $350.00 filing fee is paid in
full.
Rivers reports that the treasurer at MCI Norfolk has frozen
his canteen account because of his filing fee obligation, and
that he cannot purchase soap, toothpaste, or a toothbrush.

Once

the initial partial filing fee is paid1, the PLRA does not
require a prisoner to use all of his income to pay the filing
fee.

However, the treasurer is required to withhold some funds

and therefore a prisoner must carefully prioritize his purchases:
After payment of the initial partial filing fee,
the prisoner shall be required to make monthly payments
of 20 percent of the preceding month’s income credited
to the prisoner’s account. The agency having custody of
the prisoner shall forward payments from the prisoner’s
account to the clerk of the court each time the amount
in the account exceeds $10 until the filing fees are
paid.
28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2) (emphases added).
Accordingly, the Court denies Rivers’s request for an order
that he is not required to pay the filing fee.

The Clerk shall

send a copy of this order to the treasurer of MCI Norfolk.
SO ORDERED.
/s/ Patti B. Saris
PATTI B. SARIS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

1

In its April 2, 2012 order (#7) granting the plaintiff’s
motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, the Court assessed
an initial partial filing fee of $4.35. The Clerk has received
$4.50 towards the filing fee.
2