Castillo v. Kijakazi

United States District Court for the Southern District of California

Castillo v. Kijakazi

Trial Court Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ANGELA C., Case No.: 23-cv-198-KSC

12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING APPLICATION 13 v. TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 14 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting

Commissioner of Social Security, 15 [Doc. No. 2] Defendant. 16

17 18 On February 2, 2023, plaintiff Angela C. commenced this action against Kilolo 19 Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, seeking review of a final adverse 20 decision of the Commissioner. Doc. No. 1. Plaintiff also moved to proceed in forma 21 pauperis. Doc. No. 2. A court may authorize the commencement of a suit without 22 prepayment of fees if the plaintiff submits an affidavit, including a statement of all his or 23 her assets, showing that he or she is unable to pay the filing fee. See

28 U.S.C. § 1915

(a). 24 The statute does not define “what constitutes insufficient assets,” but “‘[o]ne need not be 25 absolutely destitute to obtain [the] benefits of the in forma pauperis statute.’” Escobedo v. 26 Applebees,

787 F.3d 1226, 1234

(9th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted) (alteration in original). 27 However, a plaintiff who seeks to proceed in forma pauperis “must allege poverty ‘with 28 some particularity, definiteness and certainty.’”

Id.

(citation omitted). 1 Here, plaintiffs application states she receives no income. Doc. No. 2 at 1-2. 2 || Plaintiff also indicates she has no expenditures. Doc. No. 2 at 4-5. However, plaintiff has 3 ||not provided the Court with complete information regarding plaintiff’s assets [Doc. No. 2 4 1-2], notwithstanding the explicit instructions to leave no portion of the application 5 || blank, and the Court is therefore unable to assess whether plaintiff “cannot pay the court 6 and still afford the necessities of life.” Escobedo,

787 F.3d at 1234

(citing Adkins v. 7 || EL. DuPont de Nemours & Co.,

335 U.S. 331, 339

(1948)). Therefore, the Court finds that 8 || plaintiff has not shown she lacks the financial resources to pay the filing fee. 9 Plaintiff's Application is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. The Court will 10 ||consider a renewed motion that corrects the above-described deficiencies. 11 || IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 ||Dated: February 2, 2023 Uy iia 13 My Lee a 14 Hon. Karen S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Reference

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