STORY v. ATLANTIC CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT et al
Filing
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OPINION. Signed by Judge Robert B. Kugler on 9/21/2011. (bdk, )
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
HUSCHEL B. STORY,
Plaintiff,
v.
ATLANTIC CITY POLICE
DEPARTMENT, et al.,
Defendants.
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Civil Action No. 11-5340 (RBK)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
APPEARANCES:
Plaintiff pro se
Huschel B. Story
Atlantic County Justice Facility
5060 Atlantic Avenue
Mays Landing, NJ 08330
KUGLER, District Judge
Plaintiff Huschel B. Story, a pre-trial detainee confined at
Atlantic County Justice Facility in Mays Landing, New Jersey,
seeks to bring this civil action in forma pauperis, without
prepayment of fees or security, asserting claims pursuant to 42
U.S.C. § 1983.
Civil actions brought in forma pauperis are governed by 28
U.S.C. § 1915.
The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L.
No. 104-135, 110 Stat. 1321 (April 26, 1996) (the “PLRA”), which
amends 28 U.S.C. § 1915, establishes certain financial
requirements for prisoners who are attempting to bring a civil
action or file an appeal in forma pauperis.
Under the PLRA, a prisoner seeking to bring a civil action
in forma pauperis must submit an affidavit, including a statement
of all assets, which states that the prisoner is unable to pay
the fee.
28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1).
The prisoner also must submit
a certified copy of his inmate trust fund account statement(s)
for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of his
complaint.
28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2).
The prisoner must obtain
this certified statement from the appropriate official of each
prison at which he was or is confined.
Id.
Even if the prisoner is granted in forma pauperis status,
the prisoner must pay the full amount of the $350 filing fee in
installments.1
28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1).
In each month that the
amount in the prisoner’s account exceeds $10.00, until the
$350.00 filing fee is paid, the agency having custody of the
prisoner shall assess, deduct from the prisoner’s account, and
forward to the Clerk of the Court an installment payment equal to
20 % of the preceding month’s income credited to the prisoner’s
account.
28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2).
Plaintiff may not have known when he submitted his complaint
that he must pay the filing fee, and that even if the full filing
fee, or any part of it, has been paid, the Court must dismiss the
case if it finds that the action: (1) is frivolous or malicious;
1
The outdated complaint form used by Plaintiff states that
the filing fee is $120. The filing fee is now $350.
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(2) fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; or
(3) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from
such relief.
actions).
28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) (in forma pauperis
See also 28 U.S.C. § 1915A (dismissal of actions in
which prisoner seeks redress from a governmental defendant); 42
U.S.C. § 1997e (dismissal of prisoner actions brought with
respect to prison conditions).
If the Court dismisses the case
for any of these reasons, the PLRA does not suspend installment
payments of the filing fee or permit the prisoner to get back the
filing fee, or any part of it, that has already been paid.
If the prisoner has, on three or more prior occasions while
incarcerated, brought in federal court an action or appeal that
was dismissed on the grounds that it was frivolous or malicious,
or that it failed to state a claim upon which relief may be
granted, he cannot bring another action in forma pauperis unless
he is in imminent danger of serious physical injury.
28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(g).
In this action, Plaintiff failed to submit a complete in
forma pauperis application as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1),
(2), including a certified account statement.
See, e.g., Tyson
v. Youth Ventures, L.L.C., 42 Fed.Appx. 221 (10th Cir. 2002);
Johnson v. United States, 79 Fed.Cl. 769 (2007).
More
specifically, the account statement submitted by Plaintiff is not
certified by an appropriate institutional official.
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The allegations of the Complaint do not suggest that
Plaintiff is in imminent danger of serious physical injury.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, Plaintiff’s application for
leave to proceed in forma pauperis will be denied without
prejudice and the Clerk of the Court will be ordered to
administratively terminate this action, without filing the
complaint or assessing a filing fee.
Plaintiff will be granted
leave to move to re-open within 30 days.2
An appropriate Order will be entered.
s/Robert B. Kugler
Robert B. Kugler
United States District Judge
Dated: September 21, 1011
2
Such an administrative termination is not a “dismissal”
for purposes of the statute of limitations, and if the case is
reopened pursuant to the terms of the accompanying Order, it is
not subject to the statute of limitations time bar if it was
originally filed timely. See Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266
(1988) (prisoner mailbox rule); McDowell v. Delaware State
Police, 88 F.3d 188, 191 (3d Cir. 1996); see also Williams-Guice
v. Board of Education, 45 F.3d 161, 163 (7th Cir. 1995).
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