Hill v. Black

Background

Cymeyon Hill filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 concerning conditions at Salinas Valley State Prison. The case was initially filed in the Eastern District of California and was later transferred to the Northern District of California. Hill filed without a lawyer and submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning to proceed without paying the filing fee, using a form for prisoners.

Reason for the ruling

The court explained that Hill was a civil detainee, not a “prisoner” subject to the prisoner-specific provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Those provisions therefore did not apply. As a non-prisoner, Hill was required to submit an affidavit with enough financial information for the court to determine whether he was unable to pay the filing fee and whether a partial fee might be appropriate.

The court found that the prisoner application was not the proper form and that the record did not contain sufficient financial information. The court therefore could not determine whether Hill qualified to proceed without paying the filing fee.

Order

The court denied Hill’s application to proceed in forma pauperis without prejudice because it was incomplete. It ordered Hill to file a completed non-prisoner application and provide any required documentation within 28 days of the order. The court stated that failure to do so would result in dismissal of the action without prejudice. The Clerk was directed to send Hill a blank non-prisoner application, and the order terminated Docket No. 2.