(PS) Alfaro Brittany v. Burney

United States District Court for the Eastern District of California

(PS) Alfaro Brittany v. Burney

Trial Court Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MICHELLA C. ALFARO BRITTANY, No. 2:24-cv-03464-DAD-JDP (PS) 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, DENYING 14 ANNALISE M. BURNEY, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS, AND DIRECTING 15 Defendant. PLAINTIFF TO PAY FILING FEE 16 (Doc. Nos. 2, 3) 17 18 Plaintiff Michella C. Alfaro Brittany proceeds pro se in this civil action. The matter was 19 referred to a United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to

28 U.S.C. § 636

(b)(1)(B) and Local Rule 20 302. 21 On January 28, 2025, the assigned magistrate judge issued findings and recommendations 22 recommending that plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. No. 2) be denied 23 because plaintiff’s application did not establish that she was unable to pay the required filing fee 24 in full on account of her poverty. (Doc. No. 3.) The magistrate judge found that the application 25 in support of plaintiff’s motion indicated that plaintiff earns $91,604.00 per year across several 26 ///// 27 ///// 28 ///// 1 income sources, has no listed debt,1 and pays a monthly rent of $1,055.00. (Doc. Nos. 2 at 1–2; 3 2 at 2.) The magistrate judge concluded that, on this showing, plaintiff had failed to demonstrate 3 that she has “insufficient assets to pay the filing fee and costs and provide the necessities of life to 4 herself and her dependents.” (Doc. No. 3 at 2); see also Escobedo v. Applebees,

787 F.3d 1226

, 5 1234 (9th Cir. 2015) (“The IFP statute does not define what constitutes insufficient assets. As 6 this court has recognized, one need not be absolutely destitute to obtain benefits of the in forma 7 pauperis statute. . . . Nonetheless, a plaintiff seeking IFP status must allege poverty with some 8 particularity, definiteness[,] and certainty.”) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Jefferson 9 v. United States,

277 F.2d 723, 725

(9th Cir. 1960) and United States v. McQuade,

647 F.2d 938

, 10 940 (9th Cir. 1981)). 11 Those pending findings and recommendations were served on the parties and contained 12 notice that any objections thereto were to be filed within fourteen (14) days after service. (Id. at 13 2.) To date, no objections to the pending findings and recommendations have been filed and the 14 time in which to do so has passed. 15 In accordance with the provisions of

28 U.S.C. § 636

(b)(1)(C), this court has conducted a 16 de novo review of the case. Having carefully reviewed the entire file, the court concludes that the 17 findings and recommendations are supported by the record and by proper analysis. 18 Accordingly, 19 1. The findings and recommendations issued on January 28, 2025 (Doc. No. 3) are 20 adopted in full; 21 2. Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. No. 2) is denied; 22 3. Within twenty-one (21) days from the date of service of this order, plaintiff shall 23 pay the required $405.00 filing fee in full in order to proceed with this action; and 24 ///// 25 ///// 26

27 1 The undersigned observes that plaintiff indicates in her application that she does have student loan debt but does not indicate the amount of that debt or the amount of her monthly payment on 28 the balance due. (Doc. No. 2 at 2.) 1 2 4. This matter is referred back to the assigned magistrate judge for further 3 proceedings. 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. > | Dated: _May 9, 2025 Dab A. 2, sxe 6 DALE A. DROZD 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Reference

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