Chen v. Vasan

Background

Victor Chen filed this action representing himself. On April 29, 2022, the court dismissed the action as frivolous. The court also noted that Chen had filed five other cases that were dismissed as frivolous. It ordered him to show cause, by declaration, why he should not be barred from filing additional civil actions in this court without paying filing fees unless he first obtained permission.

The court later extended Chen’s deadline. Chen filed a declaration on May 31, 2022. He argued that he needed to file without paying fees because he was on a fixed income, did not receive income from his writings, and might be prevented by law from selling his works. He also attached excerpts from two publications.

Reasoning

The court found that Chen’s arguments did not address the principal concern identified in the order to show cause: his history of filing frivolous actions. The court also found that the attached publication excerpts did not appear to respond to the order to show cause.

Ruling

The court issued the bar order under 28 U.S.C. § 1651. It barred Chen from filing future civil actions in this court without paying filing fees unless he first obtained leave from the court. Any motion for permission must include a copy of the proposed complaint and a copy of the bar order, and it must be filed with the court’s Pro Se Intake Unit. If Chen files an action without first seeking permission, the action will be dismissed for failure to comply with the order.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Chen permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.