Ortega v. Santa Clara County Jail
- Haywood Gilliam
- 4:19-cv-00319
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Carlos A. Ortega v. A. Flores, Judge Gilliam denied Ortega permission to appeal without paying fees, revoked his fee-waiver status, and kept the case closed.
Carlos A. Ortega’s appeal and his ability to proceed without paying filing fees; the underlying case remained closed.
What happened
Carlos A. Ortega, a California prisoner representing himself, brought a civil-rights case under federal law against A. Flores and others. The opinion concerns his appeal from that closed case.
The court found that the appeal was frivolous. It denied Ortega permission to proceed on appeal without paying filing fees and revoked his existing fee-waiver status. The case remained closed, and the clerk was ordered to send the order to the appeals court.
Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. issued the order on January 13, 2020. The opinion does not decide the underlying civil-rights claims.
The detailed version
- Ortega v. Santa Clara County Jail · No. 4:19-cv-00319
- Haywood Gilliam
- Jan. 13, 2020
Background
Carlos A. Ortega, identified as a California prisoner, filed this civil-rights action without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The case was already closed when the court addressed whether Ortega could pursue his appeal without paying the required fees.
Ruling
Following a December 30, 2019 referral notice from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the district court found that the appeal was frivolous. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3), the court denied Ortega leave to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal—that is, permission to appeal without paying filing fees—and revoked his in forma pauperis status. The court stated that the case remained closed.
Other Action
The clerk was ordered to transmit a copy of the order to the Court of Appeals. Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. signed the order. The opinion does not address the merits of Ortega’s underlying civil-rights claims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.