Long v. Henry County Jail

Filing 7

ORDER DISMISSING CASE, ASSESSING $400 CIVIL FILING FEE AND CERTIFYING AN APPEAL WOULD NOT BE TAKEN IN GOOD FAITH. Signed by Judge James D. Todd on 4/19/18. (mbm)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
EASTERN DIVISION
BRIAN M. LONG, ET AL.,
Plaintiffs,
VS.
HENRY COUNTY JAIL,
Defendant.

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No. 17-1210-JDT-cgc

ORDER DISMISSING CASE, ASSESSING $400 CIVIL FILING FEE
AND CERTIFYING AN APPEAL WOULD NOT BE TAKEN IN GOOD FAITH

On November 9, 2017, a letter which the Court construed as a pro se civil complaint was
filed jointly by Plaintiff Brian M. Long and fifty-five other individuals who were incarcerated at the
Henry County Correctional Facility (“Jail”) in Paris, Tennessee. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiffs did not pay
the civil filing fee or submit motions to proceed in forma pauperis and copies of their inmate trust
account statements, as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 28 U.S.C.
§§ 1915(a)-(b). Therefore, the Court issued an order on November 15, 2017, directing each of the
Plaintiffs to submit, within thirty days, an in forma pauperis affidavit and a copy of his inmate trust
account statement for the preceding six months. (ECF No. 2.) Plaintiffs were warned that failure
to comply in a timely manner would result in denial of leave to proceed in forma pauperis and the
dismissal of their claims without further notice for failure to prosecute. (Id. at 2.)
A copy of the Court’s order was sent to each of the fifty-six Plaintiffs, but twenty-nine of
those copies were returned as undeliverable. (ECF Nos. 4, 5 & 6.) None of the Plaintiffs have

complied with the Court’s order; therefore, leave to proceed informa pauperis is DENIED with
regard to all of the Plaintiffs.
Notwithstanding the dismissal of this action, the Court is still required to assess the civil
filing fee, since the responsibility for paying the filing fee accrues at the time the complaint is filed.
McGore v. Wrigglesworth, 114 F.3d 601, 607 (6th Cir. 1997), partially overruled on other grounds
by LaFountain v. Harry, 716 F.3d 944, 951 (6th Cir. 2013). Because there are multiple plaintiffs,
each Plaintiff is responsible for payment of his share of the filing fee. See Talley-Bey v. Knebl, 168
F.3d 884, 887 (6th Cir. 1999); In re Prison Litigation Reform Act, 105 F.3d 1131, 1137 (6th Cir.
1997).
The following twenty-seven Plaintiffs are each assessed $14.81 as their proportionate share
of the civil filing fee: Brian M. Long, Trey Cowans, Mitchell Shearer, Norbert Williams, Jermel
Kinley, John Todd, Jonathan Crosno, John Bates, Larry Williams, David Charnock, Dalton
Patterson, Jr., Shean Nievez, Antonio Rulford, Justin Hughes, Dakota Helms, Marcus Box, Bobby
Madding, Christopher Shane Crosser, Michael David Owen, Jacob Rigsby, Timothy Damesworth,
Jason Mobley, James P. Hill, Cody Darling, Randal P. Bradley, Ricky Newell and Brandon Gream.
It is ORDERED that these Plaintiffs shall cooperate fully with prison officials in carrying
out this order. It is further ORDERED that the trust fund officer at Plaintiffs’ prison shall withdraw
from each Plaintiff’s inmate trust account the sum of $14.81 and forward that amount to the Clerk
of this Court. If the funds in any Plaintiff’s account are insufficient to pay his share of the civil
filing fee, the prison official is instructed to withdraw all of the funds in that Plaintiff’s account and
forward them to the Clerk of Court. On each occasion that funds are subsequently credited to that

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Plaintiff’s account, the prison official shall immediately withdraw those funds and forward them to
the Clerk of Court, until his $14.81 share of the civil filing fee is paid in full.
Each time that the trust account officer makes a payment to the Court as required by this
order, he shall print a copy of the prisoner’s account statement showing all activity in the account
since the last payment under this order and file it with the Clerk along with the payment. All
payments and account statements shall be sent to:
Clerk, United States District Court, Western District of Tennessee
111 S. Highland Ave., Room 262, Jackson, TN 38301
and shall clearly identify the Plaintiff’s name and the case number as it appears on the first page of
this order.
The Clerk is ORDERED to mail a copy of this order to the prison official in charge of inmate
trust accounts at the Plaintiffs’ prison. The Clerk is further ORDERED to forward a copy of this
order to the Jail Administrator to ensure that the custodian of Plaintiffs’ inmate trust accounts
complies with that portion of the PLRA pertaining to the payment of filing fees.
The Court hereby CERTIFIES, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) and Federal Rule of
Appellate Procedure 24(a) that an appeal by any of the Plaintiffs in this case would not be taken in
good faith.
The Clerk is directed to prepare a judgment.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/ James D. Todd
JAMES D. TODD
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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