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N.D. Cal.Procedural orderFiled Dec. 8, 2020

Blanchard

Judge
Beth Freeman
Docket
5:20-cv-07578
Court
U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
Pages
1
HabeasCivil Procedure
In one sentence

Judge Freeman dismissed In re Selena Blanchard without prejudice after Selena Blanchard failed to pay the filing fee or submit a complete fee-waiver application.

Who this affects

Selena Blanchard’s attempted federal-court action was dismissed without prejudice, and the case was closed. The opinion identifies her as a federal prisoner.

What happened

In re Selena Blanchard began when Selena Blanchard, a federal prisoner, submitted a letter that the court treated as an attempt to file a petition asking for a court order about her imprisonment.

The Clerk told Blanchard to use the court’s form and either pay the filing fee or submit a complete application to proceed without paying it. She did not respond by the deadline.

Judge Freeman dismissed In re Selena Blanchard without prejudice for failure to pay the filing fee. The Clerk was directed to end pending deadlines and close the case.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Blanchard · No. 5:20-cv-07578
Judge
Beth Freeman
Date
Dec. 8, 2020

Background

On October 28, 2020, Selena Blanchard, identified as a federal prisoner, filed a letter. The court treated the letter as an attempt to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, meaning a request for a court order concerning a person’s custody.

The Clerk notified Blanchard that she needed to file a petition using the court’s form and, within 28 days, either pay the filing fee or submit a complete application to proceed without paying the fee. The opinion states that the deadline passed and Blanchard did not respond.

Ruling

The court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to pay the filing fee. The court also directed the Clerk to terminate all pending deadlines and close the case. The order did not decide the merits of Blanchard’s underlying request for relief.

Judge

The order was signed by Beth Labson Freeman, United States District Judge.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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