Daniels v. Baumann et al
Filing
25
ORDER signed by Judge J.P. Stadtmueller on 7/12/2017 DENYING 24 Plaintiff's Motion to Use Release Account Funds to Pay Remainder of Filing Fee. (cc: all counsel, via mail to Remo Harrison Daniels at Waupun Correctional Institution) (jm)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
REMO HARRISON DANIELS,
v.
Plaintiff,
CAPTAIN BAUMANN, SGT.
SEGERSTROM, SGT. WERNER, A.
DEGROOT, BRIAN FOSTER,
WARDEN COOPER, JOHN KIND,
C.O. NABBEFELD, ANA
BOATWRIGHT, and CATHY JESS,
Case No. 16-CV-870-JPS-JPS
ORDER
Defendants.
On July 10, 2017, Plaintiff filed a motion to utilize his release account
funds to pay the remainder of his filing fee. (Docket #24). Plaintiff paid the
initial partial filing fee (“IPFF”) of $8.67 on August 11, 2016. His motion
states that a balance of $183.09 remains on the fee. Id. While it is true that
this Court has the authority to order disbursements from a prisoner’s
release account for payment of an IPFF, see, e.g., Doty v. Doyle, 182 F. Supp.
2d 750, 751 (E.D. Wis. 2002) (noting that “both the Wisconsin
Prison Litigation Reform Act. . .and the federal Prison Litigation Reform
Act [(“PLRA”)]. . .authorize the courts to order that. . .a prisoner’s release
account be made available [to pay an IPFF]”), this Court lacks the
authority—statutory or otherwise—to order that a prisoner may tap into
his release account to pay current (or future) litigation costs. Cf. Wilson v.
Anderson, No. 14-CV-0798, 2014 WL 3671878, at *3 (E.D. Wis. July 23, 2014)
(declining to order that a prisoner’s full filing fee be paid from his release
account, “[g]iven the [DOC’s] rationale for segregating funds into a release
account” and the absence of any statutory authority compelling the court
to do so).
Notwithstanding the foregoing, denying prisoners the use of their
release accounts to fund litigation costs is also prudent given that those
accounts are “restricted account[s] maintained by the [DOC] to be used
upon the prisoner’s release from custody.” Id. Permitting a prisoner to
invade that account for litigation costs could be a detriment to that
prisoner’s likelihood of success post-incarceration, see Wis. Adm. Code. §
DOC 309.466 (stating that disbursements from a prisoner’s release account
are authorized “for purposes that will aid the inmate’s reintegration into
the community”), especially if the prisoner is overly litigious. As the
Seventh Circuit has instructed, “like any other civil litigant, [a prisoner]
must decide which of [his] legal actions is important enough to fund,”
Lindell v. McCallum, 352 F.3d 1107, 1111 (7th Cir. 2003); thus, if a prisoner
concludes that “the limitations on his funds prevent him from prosecuting
[a] case with the full vigor he wishes to prosecute it, he is free to choose to
dismiss it voluntarily and bring it at a later date.” Williams v. Berge, No. 02CV-10, 2002 WL 32350026, at *8 (W.D. Wis. Apr. 30, 2002). He is not free,
however, to tap into his release account to cover those legal costs. In light
of the foregoing, the Court will deny Plaintiff’s motion to use release
account funds to pay the balance of his filing fee.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion to use funds from his release
account to pay the remainder of his filing fee (Docket #24) be and the same
is hereby DENIED.
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Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 12th day of July, 2017.
BY THE COURT:
____________________________________
J. P. Stadtmueller
U.S. District Judge
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