Perez v. Deprospo

Background

Antonio Molina Perez, who is detained at Orange County Jail, brought this action without a lawyer against William L. Deprospo and other defendants. To start a civil action, a prisoner must either pay $402 in fees or request permission to proceed without prepaying them by submitting an application and a prisoner authorization.

The $402 consists of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. If the court grants permission to proceed without prepaying fees, the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires collection of the $350 filing fee through installments deducted from the prisoner’s account. The prisoner authorization must permit those deductions and provide certified account statements for the previous six months.

Court’s action

Perez submitted an application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. The court found that the authorization did not specifically state that the court could collect the $350 filing fee from Perez’s prison account.

The court ordered Perez, within 30 days of April 12, 2022, either to pay the full $402 or complete and submit the attached prisoner authorization. If he submits the authorization, it must be labeled with docket number 22-CV-2866 (LTS). No summons would issue at that time. If Perez 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.

The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The order cautioned that a later dismissal as frivolous or for failure to state a claim could count as a strike under the prisoner litigation statute, but it did not make such a dismissal in this order.