Abdikarim v. Torgerson
- John Tunheim
- 0:24-cv-02188
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 4
In Abdikarim v. Torgerson, Judge Tunheim denied Abdikarim’s applications to appeal without filing fees because the appeal was frivolous.
Zakariya Abdikarim was denied permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for his appeal. The order did not decide the merits of his allegation that the search lacked probable cause.
What happened
In Abdikarim v. Torgerson, Zakariya Abdikarim alleged that Adam Torgerson, Shannon Monroe, and Clay County lacked probable cause to search his storage unit. The court had previously dismissed the action without prejudice because the complaint relied on conclusions and did not adequately allege facts establishing Clay County’s liability.
Abdikarim appealed and filed two applications to proceed without paying the appeal filing fee. The court found that he had shown he could not afford the fee, but explained that this status is unavailable when an appeal is not taken in good faith. An appeal is not taken in good faith when it has no arguable legal or factual basis.
Judge John R. Tunheim ruled that Abdikarim’s appeal was frivolous because the complaint did not provide facts supporting his probable-cause allegation, and the applications identified no meaningful issue for review. The court denied both applications.
The detailed version
- Abdikarim v. Torgerson · No. 0:24-cv-02188
- John Tunheim
- Sept. 30, 2024
Background
Zakariya Abdikarim sued Detective Adam Torgerson, Moorhead Chief of Police Shannon Monroe, and Clay County. He alleged that the defendants did not have probable cause to search his storage unit in Moorhead, Minnesota. Although Clay County was not named in the caption of the complaint, the court included it as a defendant for the limited purpose of deciding the applications at issue.
Earlier proceedings
After the case was transferred from the District of North Dakota to the District of Minnesota, Magistrate Judge David T. Schultz recommended denying Abdikarim’s request to proceed without paying the filing fee. The recommendation stated that the complaint rested on bare conclusory statements and did not adequately plead facts establishing Clay County’s liability. Abdikarim filed no objections. The court adopted the recommendation and dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).
Abdikarim then filed a notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He submitted two applications to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without paying the filing fee. The opinion states that the applications were functionally the same.
Court’s analysis
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, a person who cannot afford the filing fee may seek permission to proceed without paying it. But the court must deny that status if the appeal is not taken in good faith. The court uses an objective test: an appeal is frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis in law or fact.
The court found that Abdikarim had demonstrated indigence but that his appeal was frivolous. It reasoned that his underlying complaint rested on a single conclusory allegation about the absence of probable cause, without facts that, if proven, would allow a reasonable factfinder to conclude that the search was unlawful. The court also noted that Abdikarim identified the issue for appeal only as “the way the court handle[d] the matter,” which did not provide an arguable legal or factual basis for the appeal.
Disposition
The court denied both of Abdikarim’s Applications to Proceed In Forma Pauperis on Appeal, identified as Docket Nos. 16 and 18.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.