Cotton v. Eckstein

Filing 4

ORDER signed by Judge J.P. Stadtmueller on 9/1/2017 ORDERING Petitioner to submit the $5.00 filing fee, or file a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis including his 6 month trust account statement, within 7 days or this action will be dismissed without further notice. (cc: all counsel, via mail to Michael P. Cotton at Green Bay Correctional Institution)(jm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
MICHAEL P. COTTON,
Petitioner,
v.

Case No. 17-CV-1103-JPS

WARDEN SCOTT ECKSTEIN,

ORDER

Respondent.
Petitioner Michael Cotton (“Cotton”), who is incarcerated at Green
Bay Correctional Institution, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (Docket #1). The filing fee for such a petition
is $5.00. Cotton did not pay the fee when he filed his petition, nor did he
submit a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. §
1915 along with the required six-month prison trust fund account
statement. In a letter dated August 9, 2017, the Clerk of the Court warned
him to either pay the fee or file a motion for leave to proceed in forma
pauperis within twenty-one days. (Docket #2). That deadline has passed,
and the only thing Cotton has filed is a refusal to the jurisdiction of the
assigned magistrate judge. (Docket #3).
In light of Cotton’s failure to comply with the request from the
Clerk of the Court, the Court would generally dismiss this action for his
failure to prosecute the same. See Civil L. R. 41(c). However, the Seventh
Circuit commands that dismissal of a pro se litigant’s case should almost
always be preceded by a warning. Fischer v. Cingular Wireless, LLC, 446

F.3d 663, 665 (7th Cir. 2006). Thus, the Court issues this order as his
warning: if Petitioner does not submit either the $5.00 filing fee or a
motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, including his six-month trust
account statement, within (7) days of the date of this Order, this action
will be dismissed without further notice.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Petitioner shall submit either the $5.00 filing
fee in this action or a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis,
including his six-month trust account statement, within seven (7) days of
the date of this Order.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 1st day of September, 2017.
BY THE COURT:

J.P. Stadtmueller
U.S. District Judge

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