HEFFLEY v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS FCI FORT DIX et al

Filing 2

OPINION. Signed by Judge Noel L. Hillman on 5/23/17. (jbk, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
______________________________
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Plaintiff,
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v.
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JOHN DOES 1-4,
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Defendants.
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______________________________:
TRAVIS HEFFLEY,

Civ. No. 17-3647 (NLH)
OPINION

APPEARANCES:
Travis Heffley
17225097
Fort Dix
Federal Correctional Institution
Inmate Mail/Parcels
East: P.O. Box 2000
Fort Dix, NJ 08640
Plaintiff Pro se

HILLMAN, District Judge
Plaintiff Travis Heffley, a prisoner confined at the
Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey at the
time of filing, seeks to bring this civil action in forma
pauperis, without prepayment of fees or security, asserting
claims pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S.
388 (1971).
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 entire fee to be paid in advance of filing a civil
complaint is $400. That fee includes a filing fee of $350 plus
an administrative fee of $50, for a total of $400.

A prisoner

who is granted in forma pauperis status will, instead, be
assessed a filing fee of $350 and will not be responsible for
the $50 administrative fee.

A prisoner who is denied in forma

pauperis status must pay the full $400, including the $350
filing fee and the $50 administrative 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. 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

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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
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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, though Plaintiff submitted his affidavit of
poverty and an account statement, it was not certified and it
was only for the four months immediately preceding the filing of
the complaint. 1

See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2).

CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the Clerk of the Court will
be ordered to administratively terminate this action, without
filing the Complaint or assessing a filing fee. 2

Plaintiff will

It appears from the account statement that Plaintiff may have
been at a different facility prior to January 5, 2017. However,
Plaintiff is required to obtain a certified account statement from
each facility at which he was detained during the six months
immediately preceding the filing of the complaint. See 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(a)(2).
1

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 submitted timely. See Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266
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be granted leave to apply to re-open within 45 days.

An

appropriate Order follows.

Dated: May 23, 2017
At Camden, New Jersey

s/ Noel L. Hillman
NOEL L. HILLMAN, U.S.D.J.

(1988) (prisoner mailbox rule); Papotto v. Hartford Life & Acc.
Ins. Co., 731 F.3d 265, 275-76 (3d Cir. 2013) (collecting cases
and explaining that a District Court retains jurisdiction over,
and can re-open, administratively closed cases).
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