Ajala, Mustafa-El v. Tom, Craig et al

Filing 77

ORDER Construing Notice of Appeal as Request to Proceed ifp. Trust Fund Account Statement due 9/10/2014. Signed by District Judge Barbara B. Crabb on 8/20/2014. (jef),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MUSTAFA-EL K.A. AJALA,
formerly known as Dennis E. Jones-El,
ORDER
Plaintiff,
13-cv-102-bbc
v.
CRAIG TOM and MATTHEW SCULLION,
Defendants.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Judgment was entered in this action on March 10, 2014, granting defendants’ motion
for summary judgment and closing the case. Subsequently, plaintiff filed a motion to alter
or amend the judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 59, which was denied on July 11, 2014.
Now plaintiff has filed a notice of appeal. Because the notice is not accompanied by the
$505 fee for filing this appeal, I construe plaintiff’s notice to include a request for leave to
proceed on appeal in forma pauperis.
Plaintiff’s request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal is governed by the
1996 Prison Litigation Reform Act. This means that this court must determine first whether
plaintiff’s request must be denied either because he has three strikes against him under 28
U.S.C. § 1915(g) or because the appeal is not taken in good faith. Plaintiff does not have
three strikes against him and I do not intend to certify that his appeal is not taken in good

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faith.
The only other hurdle to proceeding on the appeal in forma pauperis is the
requirement that plaintiff make an initial partial payment of the filing fee that has been
calculated from a certified copy of his trust fund account statement for the six-month period
immediately preceding the filing of his notice of appeal. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). Plaintiff
has not submitted the necessary trust fund account statement. Until he does so, I cannot
determine whether he is indigent and, if he is, the amount of his initial partial payment.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff may have until September 10, 2014, in
which to submit a certified copy of his trust fund account statement for the six-month period
from approximately February 10, 2014 to approximately August 10, 2014. If, by September
10, 2014, plaintiff fails to submit the required trust account statement or show cause for his
failure to do so, then I will deny his request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis on the
ground that he has failed to show that he is entitled to indigent status on appeal.
Entered this 20th day of August, 2014.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
BARBARA B. CRABB
District Judge

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