Miles v. Director - Bureau of Prisons

Background

Kelvin Jerome Miles, who represented himself, filed a complaint alleging that he had been denied release to home detention because of discrimination. He also applied to proceed without paying the filing costs at the start of the case and later moved to amend his complaint.

The court ordered Miles to pay a $350 initial partial filing fee under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The court explained that the fee was required even if Miles were allowed to proceed without prepaying other costs. It also warned him that failing to pay within the deadline would lead to dismissal. After extending the deadline once, the court again warned that the case could not proceed without payment.

Objection and Analysis

Miles did not pay the fee or communicate with the court after the deadline was extended. The magistrate judge therefore recommended dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), which allows a court to dismiss a case when a plaintiff fails to prosecute it or comply with a court order.

Miles objected, asserting that COVID-19 had made his confinement conditions life-threatening, arguing that he did not need to exhaust administrative remedies, and asking to pay the filing fee in installments. The court found that Miles had not explained how the COVID-19 risks prevented him from paying. It also found that his exhaustion argument did not address the separate statutory fee requirement.

The court explained that installments could be used for any remaining balance after an initial partial payment. But, based on Miles’s trust-account balance and deposits, the court had determined that the required initial payment was the entire $350 filing fee. Because no balance remained, the court concluded that installment payments were unavailable. The opinion states that Miles did not show that his account balance or deposits had materially changed.

Ruling

Judge Susan Richard Nelson overruled Miles’s objection and adopted the magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation. The court dismissed Miles’s complaint without prejudice for failure to prosecute. It denied as moot Miles’s application to proceed in district court without prepaying fees or costs and his motion to amend the complaint. The court did not decide the merits of Miles’s discrimination allegation.