Alston, Eric v. City of Madison et al

Filing 5

ORDER on ifp request: Initial partial filing fee of $ 7.22 assessed. Initial partial filing fee due 10/3/2013. Signed by Magistrate Judge Peter Oppeneer on 9/12/2013. (jef),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

ERIC T. ALSTON,
ORDER
Plaintiff,
13-cv-635-bbc
v.
THE CITY OF MADISON, NOBLE WRAY,
TOM W OODMANSEE, CORY NELSON,
SAMANTHA D. KELLOGG, PAIGE VALENTA
DAVID MAHONEY, GARY JACKSON, DALLAS S.
NEVILLE, ART THURMER, KENT HANSON,
DIANE POSPYHALLA, CHRIS COLE, KELLY
JACKSON, MARCI PAULSON, DON BATES,
RODNEY WILSON, BETH WHITAKER, ISMAEL
OZANNE, NICKOLAS GANSNER, JOHN W.
VAUDREUIL, KATHY DAYTON and
BRIAN REYNOLDS,
Defendants.

Plaintiff Eric T. Alston, a prisoner at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution in Oshkosh,
Wisconsin, has submitted a proposed complaint. He asks for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.
Because plaintiff is a prisoner, he is subject to the 1996 Prisoner Litigation Reform Act. This
means that before this court may decide whether he can proceed with his complaint in forma
pauperis, plaintiff will have to make an initial partial payment of the filing fee.1
The initial partial payment is calculated by using the method established in 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915, that is, by figuring 20% of the greater of the average monthly balance or the average
monthly deposits to the plaintiff’s trust fund account statement. From the trust fund account
statement plaintiff has submitted, I calculate his initial partial payment to be $7.22. Also, he
must pay the remainder of the fee in monthly installments even if his request for leave to

1

W ith the exception of habeas corpus proceedings, the fee for civil actions filed after M ay 1, 2013
is $400 unless a litigant qualifies as indigent under the federal in forma pauperis statute, 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(a), in which case the fee is $350.

proceed is denied. If plaintiff does not have the money in his regular account to make the initial
partial payment, he will have to arrange with prison authorities to pay some or all of the
assessment from his release account. This does not mean that plaintiff is free to ask prison
authorities to pay all of his filing fee from his release account. The only amount plaintiff must
pay at this time is the $7.22 initial partial payment. Before prison officials take any portion of
that amount from plaintiff’s release account, they may first take from plaintiff’s regular account
whatever amount up to the full amount plaintiff owes. Plaintiff should show a copy of this order
to prison officials to insure that they are aware that they should send plaintiff’s initial partial
payment to this court.

ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff Eric T. Alston is assessed $7.22 as an initial partial
payment of the $350 fee for filing this case. He is to submit a check or money order made
payable to the clerk of court in the amount of $7.22 on or before October 3, 2013. If, by
October 3, 2013, plaintiff fails to make the initial partial payment or show cause for his failure
to do so, he will be held to have withdrawn this action voluntarily. In that event, the clerk of
court is directed to close this file without prejudice to plaintiff's filing his case at a later date.
Entered this 12th day of September, 2013.
BY THE COURT:

/s/
PETER OPPENEER
Magistrate Judge

2