Castillon Torres v. Jehova

Background

Avelino Castillon Torres, also identified in the caption as Jose Luis Garcia and Jose Garcia Torres, filed this civil action without paying the filing fees or submitting a completed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The opinion states that he was incarcerated at Kern Valley State Prison and was representing himself.

Payment and fee-waiver requirements

The court explained that a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees—the $350 filing fee and $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application, together with a 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 prison facility to provide certified account statements for the prior six months. The $52 administrative fee does not apply to a person granted IFP status.

Order

The court ordered Plaintiff, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the required IFP application and prisoner authorization. The court directed the Clerk to mail the order to Plaintiff and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that, if Plaintiff complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if he did not 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 IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order also warned that a later dismissal for frivolousness or failure to state a claim could count as a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). The court did not address the merits of Plaintiff's claims.