1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 Latawnya COWAN, Case No.: 25-cv-0342-AGS-JLB

4 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S 5 v. MOTION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS (ECF 2), ORDERING A 6 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, CONSOLIDATED COMPLAINT, 7 Defendant. AND DEFERRING SCREENING

8

9 Plaintiff Latawnya Cowan moves to proceed without paying the filing fee, as she 10 has done in three related cases. (See ECF 2; 25-cv-0697-RSH-DEB; 25-cv-0967-JO-DDL.) 11 Cowan qualifies to proceed without paying the fee, but the Court defers its mandatory 12 screening until she files a consolidated complaint. 13 Typically, parties instituting a civil action in a United States district court must pay 14 filing fees of $402.1 See

(a). But if granted the right to proceed in forma 15 pauperis, a plaintiff can proceed without paying the fee. Rodriguez v. Cook,

, 16 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). Cowan’s only income is a monthly $1,041.00 disability payment, she 17 has $400 in her bank account, and her monthly expenses total $1,330.00. (ECF 2, at 2.) She 18 is unemployed and has no other assets. (Id. at 1, 3.) With three teenaged children to care 19 for—two of them disabled (see id. at 3)—this suffices to show that she cannot pay the filing 20 fee, see Blount v. Saul, No. 21-CV-0679-BLM,

, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 21 21, 2021) (“It is well-settled that a party need not be completely destitute to proceed IFP.”). 22 When reviewing an IFP motion, the court must also screen the complaint. 28 U.S.C. 23 § 1915(e)(2)(B); Lopez v. Smith,

, 1126–27 (9th Cir. 2000). But because the 24 other two related cases have been consolidated with this one, the Court will not screen 25

26 27 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay a $52 administrative fee. See

(a); District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (effective Dec. 1, 28 1 ||Cowan’s complaint until she files one consolidated complaint—inclusive of all claims she 2 || wants to raise. She must do so, in this case, by June 9, 2025. The consolidated complaint 3 ||must be complete in and of itself without referring to any other document, in this case or 4 || others. 5 Dated: May 8, 2025

7 Hon. Andrew G. Schopler g United States District Judge 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28