UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

) RAFFEAL JEROME HILL, ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil No. 23-12581-DHH ) FMC DEVENS, et al., ) Defendants. ) )

ORDER November 1, 2023

Hennessy, M.J. For the reasons set forth below, if Plaintiff wishes to proceed with this action, he shall, within 21 days of the date of this Order, either pay the $402.00 filing fee or file a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis accompanied by a copy of his prison account statement. I. BACKGROUND Raffeal Jerome Hill, plaintiff and an inmate in custody at FMC Devens, filed a pro se motion for compassionate release or partial reduction in sentence with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. By Order, dated October 19, 2023, the sentencing court denied Hill’s motion and, because the motion raised civil rights claims, directed the clerk to file a copy of Hill’s pleading as a new civil action. Docket No. 2, Order Denying Compassionate Release and Transferring Remaining Claims, No 20-cr-00095-Z-BR (1) (N.D. Tex. Oct. 19, 2023). Hill was cautioned that the filing fee provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act apply to the new action and the case was ordered transferred to this district. Id. This action was randomly assigned to the undersigned Magistrate Judge pursuant to the District Court’s Program for Random Assignment of Civil Cases to Magistrate Judges. Docket No. 4. II. DISCUSSION A person commencing a non-habeas civil action must (1) pay a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee; or (2) or file an application to proceed without prepayment of fees (also referred to as a motion or application to proceed in forma pauperis). Hill has neither paid these

fees nor filed an application to proceed without prepayment of fees, but will be required to do so if he wishes to proceed with this action. Unlike other civil litigants, prisoner plaintiffs are not entitled to a complete waiver of the $350 filing fee, notwithstanding the grant of in forma pauperis status. When the Court grants a prisoner’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, the $50 administrative fee is waived, and the prisoner will be allowed to proceed without prepayment of the $350 filing fee. Notwithstanding the grant of in forma pauperis status, a prisoner plaintiff must pay the $350 filing fee over time. A prisoner plaintiff’s request to proceed without prepayment of the filing fee must be accompanied by “a certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or

institutional equivalent) for the prisoner for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint . . . obtained from the appropriate official of each prison at which the prisoner is or was confined.”

(a)(2). After receiving the prison account statement, the Court directs the appropriate prison official to withdraw an initial partial payment from the plaintiff’s account, followed by monthly payments until the $350 filing fee is paid in full. See

(b)(1)-(2). Even if the action is dismissed upon a preliminary screening, see

(e)(2), 1915A, the plaintiff remains obligated to pay the filing fee. See McGore v. Wrigglesworth,

(6th Cir. 1997) (Section 1915(b)(1) compels the payment of the fee at the moment the complaint is filed). Additionally, prisoner plaintiffs who have had, on three or more occasions, civil actions dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim, are subject to the “three-strikes” provision set forth in

(g). Section 1915(g) provides that a prisoner with three-strikes is ineligible to proceed in forma pauperis unless he is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.

(g).

III. CONCLUSION In accordance with the foregoing. the Court orders: 1. Within twenty-one (21) days of the date of this Order, plaintiff shall either pay the $402.00 filing fee or file a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis accompanied by a copy of his prison account statements. The Clerk shall provide plaintiff with an Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs. 2. Failure of the plaintiff to comply with these directives may subject this action to dismissal without prejudice. /s/ David H. Hennessy David H. Hennessy United States Magistrate Judge