Heggs v. Department of Corrections

Background

Terry Heggs filed a notice of appeal and then applied to proceed in forma pauperis (without paying the appellate filing fee). The clerk had informed him that he needed either to pay the $505 appellate filing fee or submit an application seeking permission to proceed without paying it.

Heggs’s application showed that he had no substantial source of income. The court therefore found him financially eligible under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. But financial eligibility alone was not enough. The court also had to determine whether the appeal was taken in good faith. For this purpose, the court explained that an appeal is not taken in good faith when the claims to be decided are factually frivolous, meaning they lack an arguable basis in law or fact.

Court’s Analysis

The court determined that Heggs’s appeal was premature. Heggs stated that his case had been dismissed for lack of evidence, but the court explained that the defendants had only filed a motion for summary judgment—a request for judgment based on the evidentiary record and applicable law—and that motion was still pending.

Because the district court had not issued a final decision, there was no final decision from which Heggs could appeal. The court therefore denied the application on the ground that the appeal was not taken in good faith for purposes of the appellate proceeding.

Disposition

Judge Katherine Menendez ordered that Heggs’s application to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal was DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. The order addressed only the appellate fee application and the premature notice of appeal; it did not decide the defendants’ pending summary-judgment motion or the underlying claims.