Wagner v. Gober et al

Filing 41

ORDER -...IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's motion to temporarily suspend the required payment of filing fees is DENIED. [Doc. 40]. Signed by District Judge Charles A. Shaw on 11/30/2016. (MRC)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION

BENJAMIN WILLIAM WAGNER,
Plaintiff,
v.
JAMES GOBER, et al.,
Defendants.

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No. 4:15-CV-1789 CAS

ORDER
This matter is before the Court on pro se plaintiff Benjamin William Wagner’s motion to
prohibit the Missouri Department of Corrections from “diverting 20% of [plaintiff’s] income from
the preceding month to the court clerk to credit toward filing fees” for the months of November and
December 2016, so that plaintiff can buy Christmas gifts for his children. Mot. at 1.
Plaintiff, a prisoner at Farmington Correctional Center in Farmington, Missouri, filed this
suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The law requires prisoners who file civil actions to pay the full filing
fee. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). Where a prisoner is unable to pay the full filing fee, the statute directs
courts to assess an initial partial filing fee, and then requires prisoners to make monthly payments:
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 have 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) (emphasis added).
The statute’s language is mandatory, as it uses the word “shall.” It requires prisoners to
make monthly payments toward the filing fee, and requires the prisoner’s custodian to forward those
payments to the Clerk of the Court. Although the Court is sympathetic to plaintiff’s wish to

purchase gifts for his children, it is unaware of any authority that would permit it to temporarily
suspend the statutorily required payments and plaintiff has not cited any such authority. Plaintiff’s
motion will therefore be denied.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion to temporarily suspend the required
payment of filing fees is DENIED. [Doc. 40]

CHARLES A. SHAW
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated this 30th day of November, 2016.

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