BROWN v. PHILADELPHIA PRISON SYSTEM

Filing 4

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER THAT THE PETITION IS DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO ITS REASSERTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS OF THIS ORDER; IF PLAINTIFF FILES WITHIN TWENTY (20) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS ORDER A NOTICE THAT HE WISHES TO PROCEED WITH THIS ACTI ON AND THEREBY OBLIGATE HIMSELF TO PAY THE $350.00 FILING FEE THIS ACTION WILL BE REINSTAED AND THE CLERK OF COURT SHALL CLOSE THIS CASE STATISTICALLY. SIGNED BY HONORABLE MITCHELL S. GOLDBERG ON 1/5/12. 1/5/12 ENTERED AND COPIES MAILED TO PRO SE PETITIONER. (jpd)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

CIVIL ACTION

DANTE BROWN

.

v.
PHILADELPHIA PRISON SYSTEM

NO. 11-6798

MEMORANDUM

AND

ORDER

Plaintiff, a prisoner at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional
Facility, seeks to bring a civil action in forma payperis,l
without prepayment of fees or security therefor, asserting claims
pursuant to 42 U.S.C.

§

1983.

The Prison Litigation Reform Act

of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (April 26, 1996)
(the "Act"), which amends 28 U.S.C.

§

1915, establishes certain

financial requirements for prisoners who are attempting to bring
a civil action or file an appeal in forma pauperis.
Under the Act, a prisoner bringing a civil action in
forma pauperis must pay the full amount of the $350 filing fee.
28 U.S.C.

§

1915(b) (1).

The prisoner must submit a certified

copy of his inmate trust fund account statement for the 6-month
period immediately preceding the filing of his complaint so the
Court can determine how the $350 filing fee will be paid.
U.S.C.

§

1915(a) (2).

28

The prisoner must obtain this statement

from the appropriate official of each prison at which he was or
is confined.

Id.

The Court must then "assess [the prisoner's

financial status) and, when funds exist, collect, as a partial
payment of any court fees required by law, an initial partial

1

§

1915.

Suits brought in fOrma pauperis are governed by 28 U.S.C.

filing fee of 20 percent of the greater of-- (A) the average
monthly deposits to the prisoner's account; or (B) the average
monthly balance in the prisoner's account for the 6-month period
immediately preceding the filing of the complaint . . . . "
Based upon plaintiff's financial statement, he is assessed
an initial partial filing fee of $15.70.

The Warden or other

appropriate official at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional
Facility, or at any prison at which plaintiff may be confined,
will be directed to deduct $15.70 from plaintiff's inmate
account, when such funds become available, and forward that
amount to the Clerk of the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Thereafter, each time that the

balance in plaintiff's inmate account exceeds $10, an amount no
greater than 20 percent of the money credited to plaintiff's
account during the preceding month will be deducted and forwarded
to the Clerk of Court until the filing fee is paid.
Plaintiff may not have known when he brought this action
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 is: (1) 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).

If the Court dismisses

the case for any of these reasons, the Act does not permit the
prisoner to get his filing fee back.
We shall give plaintiff twenty (20) days from the date of
this order to decide whether he wants to proceed with this case.

· ' "'...

If by that time, plaintiff decides not to proceed with the case,
he need not pay the $350 filing fee. 2
For the foregoing reasons, it is, this

day of

January, 2012, hereby ORDERED that:
1.

The petition is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to its

reassertion in accordance with the terms of this order;
2.

If plaintiff files with the Court within twenty (20)

days from the date of this order a notice that he wishes to
proceed with this action and thereby obligate himself to pay the
$350 filing fee, this action will be reinstated; and
3.

The Clerk of Court shall CLOSE this case statistically.
BY THB COURT:

2
In deciding whether to proceed with this civil action,
plaintiff should note that in order to bring suit under 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983, plaintiff must allege that a person acting under color of
state law deprived him of his constitutional rights. West v.
Atkins, 487 U.S. 42 (1988). The facts asserted in this complaint
fail to indicate anything more than negligence. Negligent
conduct which causes unintended injury to an inmate does not
amount to a constitutional violation. ~ Davidson v. Cannon,
474 U.S. 344, 347-48 (1986)i Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327,
328 (1986).