GARRETT v. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA et al

Filing 8

OPINION. Signed by Judge Noel L. Hillman on 11/21/2022. (jab,N.M.)

Case 1:22-cv-05840-NLH-SAK Document 8 Filed 11/21/22 Page 1 of 4 PageID: 50

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
______________________________
:
ALLEN DUPREE GARRETT,
:
:
Plaintiff,
:
Civ. No. 22-5840 (NLH) (SAK)
:
v.
:
OPINION
:
:
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, :
et al.,
:
:
Defendants.
:
______________________________:
APPEARANCE:
Allen Dupree Garrett
881340B
Somerset County Jail
P.O. Box 3000
Somerville, NJ 08876-12621
Plaintiff Pro se
HILLMAN, District Judge
Plaintiff Allen Dupree Garrett, an inmate presently
detained in Somerset County Jail, New Jersey, seeks to bring
this civil action in forma pauperis, without prepayment of fees
or security.

See ECF No. 1.

Title 28, section 1915 of the United States Code
establishes certain financial requirements for prisoners who are

Mail sent to Plaintiff’s previous address, Bayside State
Prison, was returned as undeliverable. ECF No. 7. The Court
will direct the Clerk to update Plaintiff’s address as given in
another matter brought by him in this Court, Civil Action No.
22-5664, and resend the returned mail.
1

Case 1:22-cv-05840-NLH-SAK Document 8 Filed 11/21/22 Page 2 of 4 PageID: 51

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 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 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 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
2

Case 1:22-cv-05840-NLH-SAK Document 8 Filed 11/21/22 Page 3 of 4 PageID: 52

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.
1915(e)(2)(B) (in forma pauperis actions).

28 U.S.C. §
See also 28 U.S.C. §

1915A (dismissal of actions in which prisoner seeks redress from
a governmental defendant).

If the Court dismisses the case for

any of these reasons, § 1915 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).
Plaintiff’s current action is subject to the three-strikes
provision of § 1915(g).
Cir. 2021).

See Garrett v. Murphy, 17 F.4th 419 (3d

Before he may proceed in forma pauperis in this

action, Plaintiff must submit a statement demonstrating why he
would be in imminent danger of serious physical injury if the
Court did not grant him in forma pauperis status.

3

Case 1:22-cv-05840-NLH-SAK Document 8 Filed 11/21/22 Page 4 of 4 PageID: 53

CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, Plaintiff must submit a
statement demonstrating imminent danger of serious physical
injury before he may proceed in forma pauperis.

Plaintiff must

submit the statement within 30 days, or the Court will
administratively terminate the complaint pending receipt of the
$350 filing fee and $52 administrative fee.
An appropriate Order follows.

Dated: November 21, 2022
At Camden, New Jersey

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

4