Bullock v. Suomela, 82-3343
| Decision Date | 25 March 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-3343,82-3343 |
| Citation | 710 F.2d 102 |
| Parties | Tyrone BULLOCK, Appellant v. Martin SUOMELA. . Submitted Under Third Circuit Rule 12(6) |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Tyrone Bullock, pro se.
LeRoy S. Zimmerman, Atty. Gen., Gregory R. Neuhauser, Francis R. Filipi, Deputy Attys. Gen., Harrisburg, Pa., for appellee.
Before GIBBONS, GARTH and MARIS, Circuit Judges.
The plaintiff, an inmate of the Pennsylvania Correctional Institution at Huntingdon, filed a civil rights complaint pro se against the defendant, a member of the staff of that institution. He also requested leave to proceed in forma pauperis without prepayment of fees and costs. In support of that request he filed an affidavit which did not contain all of the information required by the established procedure of the district court. Further, he marked "Refused" on a certificate attached to the affidavit which was to have been executed by prison officials. And, finally, he indicated that he did not have any money in his prison account.
The magistrate to whom the case was referred accordingly issued an order requiring prison officials to submit further financial information. Thereafter, an affidavit was filed which indicated that on March 16, 1982, the date on which the plaintiff executed his affidavit stating that he had no funds in his prison account, that account actually had a balance of $4.76, that his average monthly wages were $17.48 and that during the 6-month period preceding suit he had receipts of $144.22. The magistrate thereupon ordered the plaintiff to pay a partial filing fee of $4.00 or submit an explanation demonstrating that he lacked access to sufficient funds to make the partial payment. Plaintiff responded with an affidavit indicating that he should be excused from paying the filing fee on the basis that his only source of income was from prison wages which he needed to purchase essential cosmetics, legal paper, photocopies and postage stamps and that the then present balance in his account was zero. The magistrate considered nonetheless that it would not be burdensome on the plaintiff to pay the modest partial filing fee which he had ordered. The plaintiff failed to do so, however, and on the report and recommendation of the magistrate and after considering exceptions thereto filed by plaintiff, the district court dismissed the complaint with prejudice. The present appeal by the plaintiff followed.
The magistrate and the district court acted pursuant to a procedure followed in that court under which a plaintiff seeking to proceed pro se without prepayment of fees and costs who is without funds to prepay them in full is authorized to proceed in forma pauperis upon payment of such lesser sum in part payment as his financial situation may fairly permit. A number of courts of appeals and district courts have approved this procedure as within the authority conferred by 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1915(a); Evans v. Croom, 650 F.2d 521 (4th Cir.1981...
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