Taylor v. Delatoore

• Decision Date: 12 February 2002
• Docket Number: No. 00-55213.,00-55213.
• Citation: 281 F.3d 844
• Parties: Jeffrey TAYLOR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DELATOORE, Deputy; Huges, Deputy; Unknown Duncan, Sgt.; Rogers, Lt.; Eriquez, Dr., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 844

281 F.3d 844

Jeffrey TAYLOR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DELATOORE, Deputy; Huges, Deputy; Unknown Duncan, Sgt.; Rogers, Lt.; Eriquez, Dr., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 00-55213.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted November 5, 2001.

Filed February 12, 2002.

Brett J. Williamson, Peter R. Afrasiabi, John Tehranian (argued), O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Newport Beach, CA, for the plaintiff-appellant.

Toni Bruno, Kelmalyan & Richland, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for the defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Lourdes G. Baird, District Judge, Presiding.

Before: NOONAN, HAWKINS, and TASHIMA, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge.

California state prisoner Jeffrey Taylor appeals the district court's dismissal of his civil rights suit brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Based on Taylor's failure to pay an initial filing fee of $6.62, which the court had ordered pursuant to the filing fee provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub.L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996) ("PLRA"), 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b), the district court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute diligently and for failure to comply with a court order. This timely appeal followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

Taylor lodged his § 1983 civil rights complaint on December 31, 1998, after exhausting his administrative remedies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He alleged that on August 7, 1997, he was violently beaten by a prison guard at the Los Angeles County jail and was then refused proper medical attention in violation of his civil rights.

On August 17, 1999, Taylor was granted permission to file his civil rights complaint in forma pauperis ("IFP") without prepayment of the full filing fee of $150.00. In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1), however, Taylor was ordered to pay an initial, partial filing fee ("initial fee") of $6.62 within 30 days, to be followed by monthly installments, towards the payment of the full filing fee. The order warned Taylor that the failure to remit the initial fee could result in the dismissal of his case.

When Taylor failed timely to pay the initial fee, the court issued an Order to Show Cause ("OSC") why the action should not be dismissed without prejudice. In a timely response, Taylor explained that he was unable to pay the $6.62 initial fee because he had no funds in his inmate trust account and had no job or alternate source of income. He submitted a copy of his inmate trust account statement for the period from April 1, 1999, to September 21, 1999, which showed that his account balance was down to zero by June 15, 1999, more than two months before he was first ordered to pay the $6.62 initial fee. Although the statement indicated an April starting balance in excess of $6.62, it also showed a negative closing balance of - $11.62, which included a hold placed on his account on August 26, 1999, for the $6.62 initial fee.

The court responded by giving Taylor an additional 30 days to pay the initial fee. When Taylor failed meet this new deadline, the court issued another OSC on November 4, 1999. In another timely response, Taylor reiterated his inability to pay the initial fee on the grounds that he had no money, no job, and no alternate source of income.

On November 17, 1999, based on Taylor's failure to pay the $6.62 initial fee, despite the extensions of time that had been granted, the magistrate judge recommended the dismissal of his action without prejudice for failure diligently to prosecute and failure to comply with a court order. Although the parties did not dispute the fact that Taylor lacked the ability to pay the fee at the time he received the initial order and thereafter, the magistrate judge nonetheless refused to discharge the OSC and recommended dismissal because the record showed that he had previously possessed "sufficient funds to pay $6.62." On that basis, she reasoned that a dismissal was proper because it had been his "responsibility to budget [these funds] to meet this obligation." The district court approved the magistrate judge's recommendations, adopted her factual findings and conclusions of law and, on December 28, 1999, dismissed Taylor's civil rights action without prejudice.¹

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review the district court's decision to assess a partial fee pursuant to the IFP statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, for an abuse of discretion. See Alexander v. Carson Adult High School, 9 F.3d 1448, 1449 (9th Cir.1993).² The district court's findings of fact are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. See Smallwood v. Cromartie, 532 U.S. 234, 121 S.Ct. 1452, 1458, 149 L.Ed.2d 430 (2001); Richardson v. Sunset Sci. Park Credit Union, 268 F.3d 654, 657 (9th Cir.2001).

The district court's dismissal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, whether construed as a dismissal for lack of prosecution or as a dismissal for failure to obey an order of the court, is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See James v. Madison St. Jail, 122 F.3d 27, 27 n. 1 (9th Cir.1997). We review a challenge to the constitutionality of a statute de novo. Dittman v. California, 191 F.3d 1020, 1024-25 (9th Cir.1999). The district court's interpretation of the PLRA is also reviewed de novo. Mayweathers v. Newland, 258 F.3d 930, 934 (9th Cir.2001).

III. DISCUSSION

Under the PLRA, all prisoners who file IFP civil actions must pay the full amount of the filing fee. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). For prisoners unable to pay the filing fee at the time of filing, the statute provides for the assessment and, "when funds exist," the collection of an initial fee equal to 20 percent of the greater of the prisoner's average monthly account balance or monthly deposits for "the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal." Id. After payment of the initial fee, the prisoner must make monthly payments equal to 20 percent of the preceding month's income credited to the account to be forwarded when the prisoner's account balance exceeds ten dollars. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2).

The PLRA provision at issue in this appeal is the "safety-valve" provision, which provides that a prisoner cannot "be prohibited from bringing a civil action ... for the reason that the prisoner has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial filing fee." 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4).

A. Constitutionality of the Filing Fee Provisions

Taylor contends that the filing fee provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b) violate his constitutional right of meaningful access to the courts and right to equal protection. Although this court has already upheld the constitutionality of the PLRA "three strikes rule," 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), see Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1178 (9th Cir.1999), Taylor's challenge to the constitutionality of the PLRA's filing fee provisions is an issue of first impression in this Circuit.

Several circuits have already considered constitutional challenges to § 1915(b) and have uniformly concluded that the PLRA fee filing requirements pass constitutional muster. See Tucker v. Branker, 142 F.3d 1294, 1299, 1301 (D.C.Cir.1998) (holding that § 1915(b) does not violate right of access to the courts or right to equal protection); Lucien v. DeTella, 141 F.3d 773, 775-76 (7th Cir.1998) (holding that § 1915(b) does not violate the right of access to the courts); Shabazz v. Parsons, 127 F.3d 1246, 1248-49 (10th Cir.1997) (same); Norton v. Dimazana, 122 F.3d 286, 289-91 (5th Cir.1997) (same); Nicholas v. Tucker, 114 F.3d 17, 20-21 (2d Cir.1997) (holding that § 1915(b) does not violate the right of access to the courts, right to equal protection, or rights under the First Amendment); Mitchell v. Farcass, 112 F.3d 1483, 1489-90 (11th Cir. 1997) (holding that § 1915(b) does not violate the Equal Protection Clause); Roller v. Gunn, 107 F.3d 227, 230-34 (4th Cir. 1997) (holding that § 1915(b) does not violate the right of access to the courts or right to equal protection); Hampton v. Hobbs, 106 F.3d 1281, 1284-1288 (6th Cir. 1997) (holding that § 1915(b) does not violate the right of access to the courts or rights under First Amendment, Due Process Clause, Equal Protection Clause, or Double Jeopardy Clause). We agree.

1. Meaningful Access to the Courts

"It is now established beyond doubt that prisoners have a constitutional right of access to the courts." Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 821, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977). That access must be "adequate, effective and meaningful." Id. at 822, 97 S.Ct. 1491; see also Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 354, 116 S.Ct. 2174, 135 L.Ed.2d 606 (1996) (recognizing the Court's previous extension of the right of access to the courts to "civil rights actions"). This right, however, is not absolute or unconditional in the civil context, except in a very narrow band of cases where the litigant has "a fundamental interest at stake." Rodriguez, 169 F.3d at 1180 (citing M.L.B. v. S.L.J., 519 U.S. 102, 117 S.Ct. 555, 136 L.Ed.2d 473 (1996)).

The filing fee requirements placed on prisoners under § 1915(b) do not deprive them of adequate, effective, and meaningful access to the courts. See Norton, 122 F.3d at 290-91; Nicholas, 114 F.3d at 20-21; Hampton, 106 F.3d at 1285. Although the PLRA fee provisions require all prisoners proceeding IFP to pay initial fees and monthly fees thereafter, several provisions of the PLRA decrease the burden the fee requirements place on rights of indigent prisoners to meaningful access to the courts. For example, as mentioned above, the initial and monthly-payment calculations are based on the prisoner's assets and are limited to 20 percent of that amount. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(b)(1)-(2). In addition, the initial fee can be collected only "when funds exist" and the monthly payments can be deducted only when the prisoner's...