Brown v. Dept. of Health & Human Svs. et al
Filing
6
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER provisionally granting the Plaintiff's 2 Motion for Leave to Proceed in forma pauperis. Plaintiff is not required to pay the filing fee in this matter. The Clerk of the court is directed to send a copy of this Memorandum and Order to the appropriate officials at the Norfolk Regional Center. Ordered by Judge Joseph F. Bataillon. (Copy mailed to pro se party and Norfolk Regional Center as directed)(MKR)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
CORNELIUS BROWN,
Plaintiff,
v.
DEPT. OF HEALTH & HUMAN
SVS., TY LYNN BOUER, Facility
Operating Officer, CHRIS BO
SIMMONS, Assoc. Facility Officer,
JOHN KROLL, Director of Nursing,
LORI STRONG, Asst. Unit
Supervisor, DIANNA MASTNY,
Unit Supervisor, and MATTHEW
POKORNY, Patient,
Defendants.
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8:14CV298
MEMORANDUM
AND ORDER
This matter is before the court on Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Proceed in
Forma Pauperis (“IFP”). (Filing No. 2.) Upon review of the record in this case, the
court finds that Plaintiff is financially eligible to proceed IFP, and the court will
presume that Plaintiff is not a prisoner for the purposes of the Prison Litigation
Reform Act (“PLRA”).
The term “prisoner” under the PLRA “means any person incarcerated or
detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or adjudicated
delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole,
probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program.” Kolocotronis v. Morgan, 247
F.3d 726, 728 (8th Cir. 2001) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(h)). A person involuntarily
committed as a mental patient, and not as a result of a criminal conviction, is not a
“prisoner” for the purposes of the PLRA. Id.; see also Jackson v. Johnson, 475 F.3d
261, 266 (5th Cir. 2007); Willis v. Smith, No. C04-4012-MWB, 2005 WL 550528, *9
(N.D. Iowa 2005).
The record does not disclose whether Plaintiff’s current commitment to the
Norfolk Regional Center arises from any criminal conviction. However, to facilitate
a more expeditious resolution of this case, the court will presume that Plaintiff is
residing at the Norfolk Regional Center as a patient and not as the result of a criminal
conviction.
Upon review of the record, Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Proceed IFP is
granted, and Plaintiff is relieved from payment of the filing fee in this matter.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that:
1.
Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Proceed IFP (Filing No. 2) is
provisionally granted. Plaintiff is not required to pay the filing fee in this matter.
2.
The Clerk of the court is directed to send a copy of this Memorandum
and Order to the appropriate officials at the Norfolk Regional Center.
DATED this 1st day of October, 2014.
BY THE COURT:
s/ Joseph F. Bataillon
United States District Judge
*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.
2
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