WHITAKER v. DEANGELIS et al

Filing 6

OPINION. Signed by Judge Edward S. Kiel on 11/25/2024. (sms2, n.m.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

QUADIR WHITAKER,

Case No. 24–cv–09996–ESK–MJS

Plaintiff,
v.

OPINION

STEVEN A DEANGELIS, et al.,
Defendants.
KIEL, U.S.D.J.
Plaintiff Quadir Whitaker, a prisoner detained in South Woods State
Prison, New Jersey, submitted a Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983
(Complaint).

(ECF No. 1.)

(Application).

(ECF No. 5.)

He has also applied to proceed in forma pauperis

The entire fee to be paid in advance of filing a civil complaint is $ 405.
That fee includes a filing fee of $ 350 plus an administrative fee of $ 55, for a
total of $ 405.

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 $ 55
administrative fee. A prisoner who is denied in forma pauperis status must
pay the full $ 405, including the $ 350 filing fee and the $ 55 administrative fee,
before the complaint will be filed.
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.

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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.)

Plaintiff may not have known when he submitted this 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); 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 Application is incomplete because it does not contain a certified
copy of his inmate trust fund account statement for the six-month period
immediately preceding the filing of the Complaint.

(ECF No. 5 p. 3.)

The

Court will direct the Clerk to send plaintiff a new in forma pauperis application.

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The Clerk will be directed to reopen the matter once plaintiff submits a new in
forma pauperis application or pays the filing fee.
An appropriate Order accompanies this Opinion.

/s/ Edward S. Kiel
EDWARD S. KIEL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated: November 25, 2024

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