ALEXANDER v. ATLANTIC COUNTY N.J. et al

Filing 2

MEMORANDUM, ORDER Plaintiff's IFP is denied without prejudice. ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall ADMINISTRATIVELYTERMINATE this case. Directing clerk to send plaintiff blank IFP application. ORDERED that if Plaintiff wishes to reopen this case,he shall so notify the Court within 30 daysof the date of entry of this Order. NM 1/23/2018. Signed by Judge Noel L. Hillman on 1/23/2018. (rss, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
______________________________
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:
:
Plaintiff,
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v.
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ATLANTIC COUNTY, N.J., et al.,:
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Defendants.
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______________________________:
NARAYAN ALEXANDER,

Civ. No. 18-646 (NLH) (JS)
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

IT APPEARING THAT:
1.

Plaintiff Narayan Alexander, an inmate presently

incarcerated at Bayside State Prison, in Leesburg, 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.
2.

ECF Nos. 1 (Complaint), 1-2 (IFP application).

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.
3.

Title 28, section 1915 of the United States Code

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 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.
4.

Id.

In this action, Plaintiff seeks to proceed in forma

pauperis and has submitted the required Affidavit of Poverty and
the six month account statement, which appear satisfactory.
U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2).

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The account statement, however, has not

been certified by an official at Bayside State Prison;
certification is a requirement pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
1915(a)(2).
5.

Plaintiff states in a letter to the Court that he is

“having trouble getting a response from the prison business
office” so he has sworn “under oath that the attached is a true
statement of [his] prison account.”
6.

ECF No. 1-2 at 3.

Although this Court cannot rule out the possibility

that Plaintiff was unable to obtain the signature of an
authorized prison official certifying his account statement,
Plaintiff must provide the Court with a certification specifying
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the names and titles of authorized prison officials whom he
approached with requests to certify his account; the dates of
these requests; and the reasons these authorized prison
officials gave to Plaintiff in connection with their decisions
to decline his requests. Upon being presented with Plaintiff’s
certification to that effect, this Court would be in the
position to determine whether it should excuse Plaintiff’s
failure to obtain an authorized prison official’s signature and
a copy of his account statement, or whether the Court should
conduct an additional inquiry into this matter.
7.

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. 1
Plaintiff will be granted leave to apply to re-open within
thirty (30) days.
IT IS therefore on this

23rd

day of January, 2018,

ORDERED that Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma
pauperis is hereby DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE; and it is further

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
(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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ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall ADMINISTRATIVELY
TERMINATE this case, without filing the complaint or assessing a
filing fee; and it is further
ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall send Plaintiff
the form entitled Affidavit of Poverty and Account Certification
(Civil Rights) (DNJ ProSe 007 A (Rev. 5/13)) to be used by
Plaintiff in any future application to proceed in forma
pauperis; and it is further
ORDERED that if Plaintiff wishes to reopen this case,
he shall so notify the Court, in writing addressed to
Mitchell H. Cohen Building and U.S. Courthouse, Fourth and
Cooper Streets, Camden, New Jersey, 08101, within 30 days
of the date of entry of this Order; Plaintiff’s writing
shall include either (1) a complete, signed in forma
pauperis application, including a six-month prison account
statement that is either certified by a prison official or
includes a certified explanation of Plaintiff’s attempts to
have the statement certified as specified above, or (2) the
$400 fee including the $350 filing fee plus the $50
administrative fee; and it is further
ORDERED that upon receipt of a writing from Plaintiff
stating that he wishes to reopen this case, and either a
complete in forma pauperis application or payment of the filing
and administrative fees within the time allotted by this Court,
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the Clerk of the Court will be directed to reopen this case; and
it is finally
ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall serve a copy of
this Order upon Plaintiff by regular U.S. mail.

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

At Camden, New Jersey

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