Sexton et al v. Kenney et al

Filing 79

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER that Plaintiffs Lisa Sexton, Alisa Parde, Erica Cochran, Frances Beaver, Tamara Evans, Sharon Turnell, Elisa Seastrong, Christina Glass, Sydney Decapiano, and Ashley Griffith shall have until October 23, 2014, to show cause why t his case should not be dismissed for failure to pay the initial partial filing fee. In the absence of cause shown, this case will be dismissed as to any such plaintiff without prejudice and without further notice. The Clerk of the Court is directed to set a pro se case management deadline in this case using the following text: October 23, 2014: show cause deadline for failure to pay initial filing fee. Ordered by Senior Judge Lyle E. Strom. (Copy mailed to pro se parties) (JSF)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
LISA K. SEXTON, ALISA E.
)
PARDE, CAROLINE RICHARDSON,
)
ERICA J. COCHRAN, FRANCES
)
BEAVER, SYDNEY DECAFIANO,
)
ASHLEY GRIFFITH, TAMARA EVANS,)
ELISA SEASTRONG, CHRISTINA
)
GLASS, and SHARON TURNELL,
)
)
Plaintiffs,
)
)
v.
)
)
MICHAEL KENNEY, et al.,
)
)
Defendants.
)
______________________________)

8:14CV164

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

This matter is before the Court on its own motion.
Pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, an imprisoned civil
plaintiff must pay the Court’s entire filing fee, either at the
outset when filing the complaint, or in installments if the Court
grants leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”).

In re Tyler,

110 F.3d 528, 529-30 (8th Cir. 1997); Jackson v. N.P. Dodge
Realty Co., 173 F. Supp. 2d 951 (D. Neb. 2001).
In this case, the following individuals signed the
complaint, filed motions seeking leave to proceed IFP, and were
granted leave to proceed IFP by the Court:

Lisa Sexton, Alisa

Parde, Erica Cochran, Frances Beaver, Tamara Evans, Sharon
Turnell, Elisa Seastrong, Christina Glass, Sydney Decapiano,
Caroline Richardson, and Ashley Griffith.

On August 18, 2014,

the Court assessed an initial partial filing fee for each of
these individuals that was to be paid by September 17, 2014.

To

date, only one of these prisoners -- Caroline Richardson -- has
paid her initial partial filing fee (see text-entry dated
September 8, 2014).

Six of these individuals -- Ashley Griffith,

Sharon Turnell, Christina Glass, Alisa Parde, Sydney Decapiano
and Frances Beaver -- have asked to be dismissed as plaintiffs
from this matter (see Filing Nos. 73-78).1
Plaintiffs Lisa Sexton, Alisa Parde, Erica Cochran,
Frances Beaver, Tamara Evans, Sharon Turnell, Elisa Seastrong,
Christina Glass, Sydney Decapiano, and Ashley Griffith have not
paid the initial partial filing fee.

These plaintiffs shall be

required to show cause why they should not be dismissed as
plaintiffs in this matter.

Absent a sufficient response, the

case will be subject to dismissal as to any plaintiff who does
not respond for failure to pay the initial partial filing fee by

1

This case highlights the multitude of problems that can
arise in cases brought by more than one prisoner petitioner
proceeding pro se. See Lindell v. Litscher, 212 F. Supp. 2d 936
(W.D.Wis. 2002) (discussing problems that may arise in multiprisoner cases). The undersigned judge recognizes, however, that
in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska,
joinder of prisoner plaintiffs is allowed. See Cole v. Houston,
No. 4:06CV3314, 2007 WL 1309821 (D. Neb. March 30, 2007).
Indeed, at least one circuit court has held that a court must
accept complaints filed by multiple prisoners if the criteria of
permissive joinder are satisfied. See Boriboune v. Berge, 391
F.3d 852 (7th Cir. 2004).
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the court-ordered deadline.

See Taylor v. Cassady, --- Fed.

App’x. ----, 2014 WL 4378388 (8th Cir. Sept. 5, 2014) (holding
district court abused its discretion by dismissing case without
first taking steps to determine whether prisoner-plaintiff’s
failure to pay the initial partial filing fee “was caused by
circumstances beyond his control, such as prison officials’
failure to adhere to his request to remit payment using funds
from his account”).

For those plaintiffs who have asked to be

dismissed from this action, they need not respond to this order
unless they would like to remain parties to this action.
IT IS ORDERED:
1.

Plaintiffs Lisa Sexton, Alisa Parde, Erica

Cochran, Frances Beaver, Tamara Evans, Sharon Turnell, Elisa
Seastrong, Christina Glass, Sydney Decapiano, and Ashley Griffith
shall have until October 23, 2014, to show cause why this case
should not be dismissed for failure to pay the initial partial
filing fee.

In the absence of cause shown, this case will be

dismissed as to any such plaintiff without prejudice and without
further notice.
2.

The Clerk of the Court is directed to set a pro se

case management deadline in this case using the following text:

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October 23, 2014:

show cause deadline for failure to pay initial

filing fee.
DATED this 30th day of September, 2014.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Lyle E. Strom
____________________________
LYLE E. STROM, Senior Judge
United States District Court

* This opinion may contain hyperlinks to other documents or Web sites.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska does not endorse,
recommend, approve, or guarantee any third parties or the services or products
they provide on their Web sites. Likewise, the Court has no agreements with
any of these third parties or their Web sites. The Court accepts no
responsibility for the availability or functionality of any hyperlink. Thus,
the fact that a hyperlink ceases to work or directs the user to some other
site does not affect the opinion of the Court.

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