SMART v. CAMDEN COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS et al
Filing
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MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Robert B. Kugler on 1/15/2013. (nz, )n.m.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
SALAHUDDIN SMART,
Plaintiff,
v.
CAMDEN COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS, et al.,
Defendants.
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Civil Action No. 12-7782 (RBK)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
APPEARANCES:
Plaintiff pro se
Salahuddin Smart
Camden County Correctional Facility
Camden, NJ 08103
KUGLER, District Judge
Plaintiff Salahuddin Smart, a pre-trial detainee confined at
Camden County Correctional Facility in Camden, 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.
§ 1983.1
Prior to this action, Plaintiff has initiated more than
forty civil actions in this District over the period of the last
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Plaintiff submitted the instruction sheet of a form
Affidavit of Poverty and an uncertified institutional account
statement. The Court construes this submission as a request for
leave to proceed in forma pauperis.
ten years and, in at least twenty-one of those actions, Plaintiff
had his in forma pauperis status revoked.2
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 and liabilities, which establishes 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 correctional facility at which he
was or is confined during such six-month period.
2
Id.
Excluding this matter, the indices of the civil actions
filed by Plaintiff in this District include (the actions in which
Plaintiff had his in forma pauperis status revoked are marked by
an asterisk): 02-5628*, 02-5826*, 02-6090*, 02-6091*, 02-6094*,
03-0954*, 03-1488*, 03-1489*, 03-4670*, 03-4743*, 03-5064*,
03-5247*, 03-5344*, 03-5345*, 03-5376*, 03-5377*, 03-5378*,
03-5495, 03-5572*, 03-5573, 03-5574, 03-6062*, 03-6063*, 03-6064,
03-6065, 03-6066, 03-6195, 04-0157, 04-0453, 04-1860, 04-1861,
04-4424, 04-4960, 04-4961, 04-5015, 05-1777, 06-0138, 07-0955,
07-6102, 07-6103, 08-0181, 08-2258*, 08-2259, 09-0593, 11-0276,
11-0743, 11-0996,.
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Even if the prisoner is granted in forma pauperis status,
the prisoner must pay the full amount of the $350 filing fee in
installments.
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 does not appear to have been confined at the time
he brought most of his prior civil actions.
Accordingly,
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;
(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
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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.
In this action, Plaintiff failed to submit a complete in
forma pauperis application as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1),
(2).
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).
The allegations of the Complaint do not suggest that
Plaintiff is in imminent danger of serious physical injury.
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CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, Plaintiff’s request 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 apply to re-open within 30 days.3
An appropriate Order will be entered.
S/Robert B. Kugler
Robert B. Kugler
United States District Judge
Dated: January 15, 2013
3
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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