Moore v. Saint Paul Police Department
- John Docherty
- 0:24-cv-00789
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 3
In Moore v. St. Paul Police Department, Judge Docherty granted fee-free filing status, denied a PACER-fee exemption, and ordered steps toward service.
Mariama Moore must complete and return a Marshal Service Form within 30 days of the order’s date, or the court will recommend dismissal without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The U.S. Marshals Service must serve the St. Paul Police Department after receiving the completed form. Moore’s request for a PACER fee exemption was denied.
What happened
In Moore v. St. Paul Police Department, Mariama Moore received permission to proceed without paying the federal court’s filing fee. The order also required her to complete a service form for the St. Paul Police Department.
Moore must return the form within 30 days of the order’s date. After receiving it, the U.S. Marshals Service must serve the Police Department. The court denied Moore’s request for an exemption from fees for accessing the federal court’s electronic records system, finding that she still had some free access.
Judge John F. Docherty warned that failing to return the form could lead to a recommendation that the action be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute. He also warned that future requests for court relief should be filed as motions rather than sent by email. This order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Moore v. Saint Paul Police Department · No. 0:24-cv-00789
- John F. Docherty
- Apr. 10, 2024
Background
Mariama Moore applied to proceed without paying the federal filing fee. She also requested an exemption from fees for using the federal courts’ Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, commonly called PACER. The court addressed those requests and the initial steps for serving the St. Paul Police Department.
Rulings and required steps
The court granted Moore’s application to proceed without paying the filing fee.
The court ordered Moore to submit a properly completed U.S. Marshals Service Form USM-285 for each defendant. The court will provide the forms. If Moore does not complete and return them within 30 days of the order’s date, the court will recommend dismissing the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute.
After receiving the completed form, the U.S. Marshals Service must serve the St. Paul Police Department under Rule 4(j) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Service of process is the formal delivery of the lawsuit’s papers to a defendant.
The court denied Moore’s request for a PACER fee exemption. The court stated that her PACER account had been disabled because payment was past due, but that this did not prevent all access. It found that Moore could still receive one free electronic look at documents filed in her case, and that judicial opinions and case information viewed at courthouse public-access terminals were free. The court therefore found that she had not shown that an exemption was necessary.
Additional warning and scope of the order
The court stated that requests for relief should be made through docketed motions rather than emails and warned that it may disregard future requests made by email instead of through standard motion practice. The order addressed filing-fee status, PACER access, and service procedures; it did not decide the merits of Moore’s underlying claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.