Burden v. Berryhill

Filing 3

ORDER granting 2 Plaintiff's MOTION to Substitute Party Upon Death of Plaintiff; plaintiff shall pay the filing fee within 30 days or submit an application to proceed in forma pauperis; signed by Judge Ronald B. Leighton. (DN)

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1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 6 7 BLAIR BURDEN, on behalf 8 of Judith Lynn Burden, Plaintiff, 9 10 Case No. 2:17-cv-00222-RBL ORDER v. 11 CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, 12 Defendant. 13 THIS MATTER comes before the Court on plaintiff’s motion for substitution of a party 14 based upon the death of the plaintiff. Based on the declaration and exhibits submitted, the Court 15 GRANTS the motion, Dkt. 2, and ORDERS that Blair Burden be substituted as the plaintiff in 16 this action. 17 Also before the Court is plaintiff’s filing of an application to proceed in forma pauperis 18 and a complaint to review and set aside a decision of the Social Security Administration under 42 19 U.S.C. § 405(g). The district court may permit indigent litigants to proceed in forma pauperis 20 upon completion of a proper affidavit of indigency. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). At the time such 21 application is made, each “movant or plaintiff” shall complete the affidavit. See Local Civil Rule 22 3(b)(1). Here, plaintiff Blair Burden seemingly completed the declaration and application to 23 proceed in forma pauperis with the relevant financial information of the deceased, Judith Lynn ORDER - 1 1 Burden. See Dkt. 1. However, the benefit of proceeding in forma pauperis is a privilege that the 2 Court may, at its discretion, afford to movants; it is not a right held by the Social Security 3 claimant. See Weller v. Dickson, 314 F.2d 598, 600 (9th Cir. 1963). 4 Therefore, the Court ORDERS that, should plaintiff seek to proceed in forma pauperis, 5 plaintiff shall submit an application regarding his inability to pay the filing fee. Otherwise, the 6 Court orders plaintiff to pay the required filing fee within 30 days of the filing of this order. 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 DATED this 16th day of February, 2017. 9 11 A 12 Ronald B. Leighton United States District Judge 10 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ORDER - 2

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