Medrow v. Berryhill

Filing 4

ORDER signed by Judge J.P. Stadtmueller on 6/21/2017 GRANTING 3 Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to Proceed Without Prepayment of the Filing Fee. (cc: all counsel) (jm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
MARC MEDROW,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 17-CV-857-JPS

NANCY A. BERRYHILL,
Acting Commissioner of Social Security,

ORDER

Defendant.
Marc Medrow filed a complaint in this matter and a motion for
leave to proceed in forma pauperis. (Docket #1 and #3). The Court may
grant the plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis if it determines
that: (1) the plaintiff is truly indigent and unable to pay the costs of
commencing this action; and (2) the plaintiff’s action is neither frivolous
nor malicious. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(a), (e)(2).
As to the first requirement, the privilege to proceed without
payment of costs and fees “is reserved to the many truly impoverished
litigants who…would remain without legal remedy if such privilege were
not afforded to them.” Brewster v. North Am. Van Lines, Inc., 461 F.2d 649,
651 (7th Cir. 1972). The plaintiff has filed an affidavit accompanying the
motion to proceed in forma pauperis, which demonstrates that he is
indigent. (Docket #3). More precisely, the affidavit shows that the plaintiff
is unemployed and that his expenses total more than twice his income
(and the income itself is primarily in the form of food stamps). Id.
The plaintiff’s action also is not frivolous or malicious. The
complaint includes an allegation that the Administrative Law Judge

(“ALJ”) erred in reaching a decision. (Docket #1).1 If that contention is true,
then the Court will be obliged to vacate the ALJ’s decision. Thus, the
plaintiff’s action is neither frivolous nor malicious.
For those reasons, the Court will grant the plaintiff’s motion for
leave to proceed in forma pauperis.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the plaintiff’s motion for leave to proceed in
forma pauperis (Docket #3) be and the same is hereby GRANTED.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 21st day of June, 2017.
BY THE COURT:

J.P. Stadtmueller
U.S. District Judge

Though the caption of the complaint correctly identifies Nancy Berryhill
as the acting Commissioner of Social Security, the body of the document states
that Carolyn Colvin, the former Commissioner, is the defendant. (Docket #1 at 1).
The Court trusts that this is merely a typographical error.
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