Sullivan v. Missouri Department of Corrections et al

Filing 21

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Time to Pay Appellate Filing Fee (Doc. 17 ) is DENIED. Signed by District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on 09/08/2021. (ANP)

Case: 4:21-cv-00298-SEP Doc. #: 21 Filed: 09/08/21 Page: 1 of 2 PageID #: 62

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
JOHN JOSEPH SULLIVAN,
Plaintiff,
v.
STATE OF MISSOURI, et al.,
Defendants.

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No. 4:21-CV-298 SEP

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Extension of Time to Pay Appellate Filing Fee.
Doc. [17]. Because the appellate filing fee is paid by an automatic deduction from Plaintiff’s
prison account, the Court will deny Plaintiff’s motion.
Background
Plaintiff John Joseph Sullivan, an inmate at Farmington Correctional Center, filed this
action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on March 9, 2021, against the Missouri Department of
Corrections (MDOC); Corizon, LLC; and John Doe (Male Nurse). The allegations in the
complaint concerned medical treatment he received for gastrointestinal symptoms. Because
Plaintiff had filed three prior actions that had been dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for
failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, 1 the Court dismissed this action
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
Plaintiff appealed the dismissal of his complaint on May 26, 2021. He sought to proceed
in forma pauperis on appeal. On June 24, 2021, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals denied
Plaintiff’s motion and dismissed the appeal for failure to pay the filing fee or demonstrate that
Plaintiff was “under imminent danger of serious physical injury,” as required under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(g). The Eighth Circuit stated: “The full $505 appellate and docketing fees are assessed
against the appellant. The court remands the collection of those fees to the district court.”
On June 30, 2021, this Court issued the following Order:
Sullivan v. Harris, 18-cv-04203 (W.D. Mo. Sept. 28, 2018); Sullivan v. Bates Cnty. Cir. Ct., 18-cv-00861
(W.D. Mo. Oct. 29, 2018); Sullivan v. Harris, 19-cv-04039 (W.D. Mo. Feb. 22, 2019); Sullivan v. Missouri,
18-cv-01816 (E.D. Mo. Oct. 23, 2018); Sullivan v. Cofer, 19-cv-01504 (E.D. Mo. May 23, 2019); Sullivan
v. Austin, 19-cv-02044 (E.D. Mo. July 18, 2019).
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Case: 4:21-cv-00298-SEP Doc. #: 21 Filed: 09/08/21 Page: 2 of 2 PageID #: 63

This matter is before the Court on remand from the United States Court of Appeals
for the Eighth Circuit for collection of the appellate filing fees pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(b). The Court will direct the Clerk of Court to request that the agency
having custody of Plaintiff begin making payments in accordance with 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(b)(2) until the $505 appellate fee is paid in full.
On June 30, 2021, a letter was sent to the financial administrator at MDOC, instructing MDOC
to automatically withdraw funds from plaintiff’s inmate account in accordance with 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(b)(2) until the full appellate filing fee of $505 is paid.
Discussion
Plaintiff seeks a sixty (60) day extension of time to pay the appellate filing fee and states
that he “would like to try to work something out for payment.” Because the filing fee is
automatically deducted from his prison account, Plaintiff’s request for an extension is denied.
The Prison Litigation Reform Act sets forth the requirements for prisoner payments as
follows:
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). The Court of Appeals did not require Plaintiff to pay an initial partial
filing fee in this case. Rather, MDOC was instructed to forward payments from Plaintiff’s
prisoner account to the Clerk of Court each time the amount in the account exceeds $10 until the
full appellate filing fee of $505 is paid. As such, it is unnecessary for the Court to grant Plaintiff
an extension of time in this action.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Extension of Time to Pay
Appellate Filing Fee (Doc. [17]) is DENIED.
Dated this 8th day of September, 2021.

SARAH E. PITLYK
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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