Herring v. Medical Staff Unit

Background

Walter Herring, who was incarcerated at Orange County Jail and represented himself, filed this civil action against Medical Staff Unit and Orange County Jail. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.

Fee and authorization requirements

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $400—the $350 filing fee and $50 administrative fee—or submit the required application and prisoner authorization. If the court grants the application, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the $350 filing fee to be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to make those deductions and provide certified copies of the prisoner’s account statements for the previous six months. The court noted that the $50 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted this fee-waiver status.

Order

The court ordered Herring to pay the $400 or submit the required forms within 30 days of the order. The forms were to identify docket number 20-CV-10088 (CM). The Clerk was directed to mail Herring a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Herring complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.

Judge Colleen McMahon certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal. The order also cautioned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).