EDWARDS v. STATE OF NEW JERSEY et al
Filing
13
MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Noel L. Hillman on 11/19/2013. (bdk, )
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
RENE D. EDWARDS,
Plaintiff,
v.
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, et al.,
Defendants.
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Civil Action No. 13-0214(NLH)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
APPEARANCES:
Rene D. Edwards
New Jersey State Prison
P.O. Box 861
Trenton, NJ 08625
Plaintiff pro se
HILLMAN, District Judge
Plaintiff Rene D. Edwards, a prisoner confined at New
Jersey State Prison in Trenton, New Jersey, 1 seeks to bring this
civil action in forma pauperis, without prepayment of fees or
security, asserting claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. ' 1983.
In
brief, Plaintiff alleges that the named defendants are liable to
him for their failure to protect him from another inmate.
1
At the time he first submitted his Complaint, Plaintiff was
confined at Southern State Correctional Facility in Delmont, New
Jersey.
Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 54.3, the Clerk shall not be
required to enter any suit, file any paper, issue any process,
or render any other service for which a fee is prescribed,
unless the fee is paid in advance.
Under certain circumstances,
however, this Court may permit an indigent plaintiff to proceed
in forma pauperis.
The fee to be paid in advance of filing a civil complaint
is $350. 2
A prisoner who is granted in forma pauperis status
will, instead, be assessed a filing fee of $350.
A prisoner who
is denied in forma pauperis status must pay the full $350 filing
fee before the complaint will be filed.
Title 28 U.S.C. ' 1915, establishes certain financial
requirements for prisoners who are attempting to bring a civil
action in forma pauperis.
Under § 1915, a prisoner seeking to
bring a civil action in forma pauperis must submit an affidavit,
including a statement of all assets and liabilities, which
states that the prisoner is unable to pay the fee.
' 1915(a)(1).
28 U.S.C.
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.
U.S.C. ' 1915(a)(2).
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The prisoner must obtain this certified
statement from the appropriate official of each correctional
2
Because Plaintiff originally submitted his Complaint before May
of 2013, he is not affected by the $50 administrative fee
applicable to cases filed after that date.
2
facility at which he was or is confined during such six-month
period.
Id.
If the prisoner is granted in forma pauperis status, the
prisoner must pay the full amount of the $350 filing fee, in
installments, as follows.
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; (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.
28 U.S.C.
' 1915(e)(2)(B) (in forma pauperis actions).
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).
the Court dismisses the case for any of these reasons, § 1915
does not suspend installment payments of the filing fee or
3
If
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).
More specifically, the institutional account statements
Plaintiff submitted were not certified by an appropriate
official.
See, e.g., Tyson v. Youth Ventures, L.L.C., 42
F.App’x 221 (10th Cir. 2002) (affirming dismissal without
prejudice of civil action where prisoner submitted only
uncertified copy of institutional account statement); Johnson v.
United States, 79 Fed.Cl. 769 (2007) (same).
See also Rohn v.
Johnston, 415 F.App’x 353, 354-55 (3d Cir. 2011) (affirming
dismissal without prejudice of civil action where prisoner
failed to submit the required affidavit of poverty).
To the extent Plaintiff asserts that correctional officials
have refused to provide the certified account statement, any
such assertion must be supported by an affidavit detailing the
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circumstances of Plaintiff=s request for a certified
institutional account statement and the correctional officials=
refusal to comply, including the dates of such events and the
names of the individuals involved.
The allegations of the Complaint do not suggest that
Plaintiff is in imminent danger of serious physical injury.
See
28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
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. 3
Plaintiff will be granted
leave to apply to re-open within 30 days.
An appropriate Order will be entered.
At Camden, New Jersey
Dated:
s/ Noel L. Hillman
Noel L. Hillman
United States District Judge
November 19, 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); Papotto v. Hartford Life & Acc.
Ins. Co., Nos. 12-1261, 12-1362, 2013 WL 5356838, *8 (3d Cir.
Sept. 26, 2013) (collecting cases and explaining that a District
Court retains jurisdiction over, and can re-open,
administratively closed cases).
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