Swanigan v. Social Security Administration

4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 5 AT TACOMA Narcrissus Swanigan, Case No. 3:25-cv-05301-JLR 7 Plaintiff, v. ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE Social Security Administration, et al., Defendants.

11 The District Court has referred Plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) to United States Magistrate Judge Theresa L. Fricke. Dkt. 1.

13 The district court may permit indigent litigants to proceed IFP upon completion of a proper affidavit of indigency. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). However, the court has broad discretion in denying an application to proceed IFP. Weller v. Dickson, 314 F.2d 598 16 (9th Cir. 1963), cert. denied 375 U.S. 845 (1963).

17 Plaintiff’s application to proceed IFP is insufficient to determine if Plaintiff is unable to pay the $405 filing fee. Dkt. 1. In the application form, Plaintiff described their monthly expenses as being payments for food, clothing, hygiene, and dog food, but Plaintiff did not specify the amount of money spent per month on those items. Id. at 2.

21 Plaintiff’s IFP application does not comply with the statutory criteria of 28 U.S.C. § 22 1915(a)(b), and therefore is incomplete.

1 The Court, in sum and for the reasons stated above, herein ORDERS Plaintiff Narcrissus Swanigan to file a revised IFP application and complete the information that is needed (“show cause”) on or before May 6, 2025. Plaintiff is further advised that failure to comply with this order may result in denial of IFP and/or dismissal. The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Order to Plaintiff and a blank IFP application form.

7 Dated this 15th day of April, 2025.

A Theresa L. Fricke 11 United States Magistrate Judge