Williams v. Van Buren

Filing 24

ORDER signed by Chief Judge Pamela Pepper on 7/13/2020 DENYING 23 plaintiff's request to use release account to pay balance of filing fee. (cc: all counsel, via mail to Devonte Williams at Wisconsin Secure Program Facility)(cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
______________________________________________________________________________
DEVONTE M. WILLIAMS,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 16-cv-960-pp

TORRIA VAN BUREN,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________________
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST TO USE HIS RELEASE ACCOUNT
TO PAY REMAINING BALANCE OF CIVIL CASE FILING FEE (DKT. NO. 23)
______________________________________________________________________________
Plaintiff Devonte M. Williams, who is representing himself, filed a letter
asking the court to authorize the use of his release account to pay the
remaining balance of his civil case filing fee. Dkt. No. 23. The court will deny
the request.
The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) requires the court to collect filing
fees from a “prisoner’s account.” 28 U.S.C. §1915(b). The term “prisoner’s
account” encompasses both a prisoner’s release account and general account.
Spence v. McCaughtry, 46 F. Supp. 2d 861, 862 (E.D. Wis. 1999). A federal
court has the authority to order payment of the initial partial filing fee from a
prisoner’s release account, see Doty v. Doyle, 182 F. Supp. 2d 750, 751 (E.D.
Wis. 2002), but it does not have the authority to order payment of any other
costs from a prisoner’s release account, see McCalla v. Thompson, No. 18-CV1895-JPS, 2019 WL 3220551, at *2 (E.D. Wis. July 17, 2019). A prisoner’s
release account is a “restricted account maintained by the Wisconsin

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Department of Corrections to be used upon the prisoner’s release from custody
upon completion of his sentence.” Wilson v. Anderson, No. 14-C-798, 2014 WL
3671878, at *3 (E.D. Wis. July 23, 2014) (citing Wis. Adm. Code §DOC
309.466). Permitting a prisoner to invade the release account could be
detrimental to that prisoner’s likelihood of success post-incarceration. See Wis.
Admin. 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.”)
The court DENIES the plaintiff’s request to use his release account to
pay the remaining balance of his civil case filing fee. Dkt. No. 23.
Dated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this 13th day of July, 2020.
BY THE COURT:
________________________________________
HON. PAMELA PEPPER
Chief United States District Judge

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