Schmidt, Travanti v. Reynolds

Filing 3

ORDER on ifp request: Plaintiff to submit $400 or trust fund account statement. Trust Fund Account Statement or $400 fee due 12/10/2013. Signed by Magistrate Judge Peter A. Oppeneer on 11/18/2013. (jef),(ps)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN TRAVANTI SCHMIDT, Plaintiff, v. ORDER 13-cv-810-wmc SERGEANT REYNOLDS, Defendant. Plaintiff Travanti Schmidt, a prisoner incarcerated in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections at the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility, has filed a proposed civil action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. With the exception of habeas corpus proceedings, the fee for civil actions filed after May 1, 2013 is $400 unless a litigant qualifies as indigent under the federal in forma pauperis statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, in which case the fee is $350. Plaintiff has submitted a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. (Dkt. # 2). The court cannot consider this motion, however, because it lacks information regarding plaintiff’s eligibility for indigent status. To the extent that plaintiff wishes to proceed in forma pauperis, he must comply with the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b), which requires indigent inmates to pay by installment the entire filing fee for civil actions and appeals. The federal in forma pauperis statute does not permit a court to waive a prisoner’s entire obligation to pay filing fees, but it does allow a qualifying individual to proceed without prepaying some or all of the filing fee. To determine whether a prisoner qualifies as indigent, his motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis must include a certified copy of his inmate trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for the six-month period immediately preceding the date of his complaint. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2). Plaintiff has failed to satisfy this requirement. Until plaintiff pays the fee or provides documentation in support of his request for indigent status, the court will take no further action in this case. Accordingly, plaintiff must either pay the $400 filing fee or submit a copy of his trust fund account statement no later than December 10, 2013. ORDER IT IS ORDERED that: 1. No later than December 10, 2013, plaintiff Travanti Schmidt shall pay the $400 filing fee or submit a certified copy of his trust fund account statement for the six-month period from the date of the complaint (November 14, 2013 through at least May 14, 2013). 2. Plaintiff is advised that, if he fails to comply as directed or show cause of his failure to do so, this case will be dismissed without prejudice and without further notice pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b). Entered this 18th day of November, 2013. BY THE COURT: /s/ PETER OPPENEER Magistrate Judge 2

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