Salgado v. Department of Corrections

Background

Raymond Salgado filed this civil action without a lawyer while incarcerated in the Vernon C. Bain Center. He originally filed the complaint with 49 other detainees. The claims were later separated, and the Clerk of Court opened this case for Salgado.

Salgado filed the complaint without paying the filing fees and without submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization. The order explained that a prisoner must either pay $400 in fees or request permission to proceed without prepayment. If that request is granted, the $350 filing fee is collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.

Order

The court ordered Salgado, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $400 in fees, or submit the required application and prisoner authorization using docket number 20-CV-9492 (CM). The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail him a copy of the order and record service on the docket.

The court stated that no summons would issue at that time. If Salgado complied, the Clerk’s Office would process the case under its procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a “strike” under the prisoner-litigation statute.

Disposition

Judge Colleen McMahon directed Salgado to pay the fees or submit the required forms. The order did not rule on the substance of Salgado’s claims. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.