“[T]he provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) 5 are not limited to prisoners.”
How later courts described this case
- “[T]he provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) 5 are not limited to prisoners.”
- “Section 16 1915 typically requires the reviewing court to exercise its sound discretion in determining 17 whether the affiant has satisfied the statute’s requirement of indigency.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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11 YVONNE W., Case No.: 22-cv-00390-JLB
12 Plaintiff,
ORDER:
13 v.
(1) GRANTING MOTION FOR
14 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting
LEAVE TO PROCEED IN FORMA
Commissioner of Social Security, Social
15 PAUPERIS; AND
Security Administration,
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Defendant. (2) SCREENING AND DISMISSING
17 COMPLAINT PURSUANT TO
28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)
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19 [ECF Nos. 1; 2]
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21 Plaintiff Yvonne W. (“Plaintiff”) has filed a Complaint against the Acting
22 Commissioner of Social Security (“Commissioner”) seeking judicial review of the
23 Commissioner’s final decision denying her application for supplemental security income
24 benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act. (ECF No. 1.)
25 Presently before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to proceed In Forma
26 Pauperis (“IFP Motion”). (ECF No. 2.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court
27 GRANTS Plaintiff’s IFP Motion and sua sponte DISMISSES the Complaint pursuant to
28 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
1 I. IFP MOTION
2 A. Legal Standard
3 All parties instituting a civil action, suit, or proceeding in a district court of the
4 United States, other than a petition for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee.
5 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). An action may proceed despite a party’s failure to pay the filing fee
6 only if the party is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
7 § 1915(a)(1). Section 1915(a)(1) provides that:
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any court of the United States may authorize the commencement, prosecution
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or defense of any suit, action or proceeding . . . without prepayment of fees or
10 security therefor, by a person who submits an affidavit that includes a
statement of all assets such [person] possesses that the person is unable to pay
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such fees or give security therefor.
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13 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1). As § 1915(a)(1) does not itself define what constitutes insufficient
14 assets to warrant IFP status, the determination of indigency falls within the district court’s
15 discretion. See Cal. Men’s Colony v. Rowland, 939 F.2d 854, 858 (9th Cir. 1991) (“Section
16 1915 typically requires the reviewing court to exercise its sound discretion in determining
17 whether the affiant has satisfied the statute’s requirement of indigency.”), reversed on other
18 grounds by 506 U.S. 194 (1993). “An affidavit in support of an IFP application is sufficient
19 where it alleges that the affiant cannot pay the court costs and still afford the necessities of
20 life.” Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1234 (9th Cir. 2015) (citing Adkins v. E.I.
21 Du Pont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339 (1948)). “One need not be absolutely
22 destitute to obtain benefits of the [IFP] statute.” Jefferson v. United States, 277 F.2d 723,
23 725 (9th Cir. 1960). “Nevertheless, a plaintiff seeking IFP status must allege poverty ‘with
24 some particularity, definiteness[,] and certainty.’” Escobedo, 787 F.3d at 1234.
25 ///
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1 B. Discussion
2 Here, Plaintiff has not paid the $4021 filing fee required to maintain a civil action in
3 this District and has instead moved to proceed IFP. (ECF No. 2.) Plaintiff attests to the
4 following under penalty of perjury in her affidavit of assets: She is unemployed and
5 receives no monthly income except for $490 in public assistance. (Id. ¶ 1.) Plaintiff is not
6 married. (Id. ¶ 3.) Other than $5 in a Bank of America checking account, Plaintiff has no
7 other assets. (Id. ¶¶ 4, 5.)
8 Plaintiff’s total monthly expenses average $480 for: food ($330); clothing ($50);
9 laundry and dry-cleaning ($10); transportation ($60); and recreation ($30). (Id. ¶ 8.)
10 Therefore, on average, Plaintiff’s monthly income exceeds her monthly expenses by only
11 $10. Based on this information, the Court finds that Plaintiff’s affidavit of assets
12 sufficiently demonstrates that she lacks the financial resources to pay the $402 filing fee
13 without causing undue financial hardship. Accordingly, Plaintiff is given leave to proceed
14 IFP.
15 II. SCREENING OF COMPLAINT PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)
16 A. Legal Standard
17 Any complaint filed pursuant to the IFP provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) is subject
18 to a mandatory review by the Court and sua sponte dismissal if it fails to state a claim upon
19 which relief may be granted. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). “[S]ection 1915(e) not only
20 permits but requires a district court to dismiss an [IFP] complaint that fails to state a claim.”
21 Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127 (9th Cir. 2000) (emphasis added). Complaints in
22 social security appeal cases are not exempt from § 1915(e)’s screening requirement.
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1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) (“The clerk of each district shall require the parties
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instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in such court . . . to pay a filing fee of $350,
26 except that on application for writ of habeas corpus the filing fee shall be $5.”); CASD Fee
Schedule, https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/_assets/pdf/courtinfo/Fees%20of%20the%20U.
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S.%20District%20Court%20(CASD).pdf (effective Mar. 1, 2021) (imposing a $52
28 administrative fee for a civil action, suit, or proceeding).
1 Hoagland v. Astrue, No. 1:12–cv–00973–SMS, 2012 WL 2521753, at *1 (E.D. Cal. June
2 28, 2012) (“Screening is required even if the plaintiff pursues an appeal of right, such as
3 an appeal of the Commissioner’s denial of social security disability benefits.”); cf. Calhoun
4 v. Stahl, 254 F.3d 845, 845 (9th Cir. 2001) (“[T]he provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)
5 are not limited to prisoners.”).
6 Under Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, all complaints must contain a
7 “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed.
8 R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not required in a complaint, but
9 “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory
10 statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). Although a
11 complaint in a social security disability appeal may differ in some ways from complaints
12 in other civil cases, it is “not exempt from the general rules of civil pleading.” Hoagland,
13 2012 WL 2521753, at *2. Courts in this District and other districts in the Ninth Circuit
14 look for four basic requirements when screening a social security disability complaint for
15 failure to state a claim:
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First, the plaintiff must establish that [she] has exhausted [her] administrative
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remedies pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) and that the civil action was
18 commenced within sixty days after notice of a final decision. Second, the
complaint must indicate the judicial district in which the plaintiff resides.
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Third, the complaint must state the nature of the plaintiff’s disability and when
20 the plaintiff claims [she] became disabled. Fourth, the complaint must contain
a plain, short, and concise statement identifying the nature of the plaintiff’s
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disagreement with the determination made by the Social Security
22 Administration and show that the plaintiff is entitled to relief.
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24 Montoya v. Colvin, No. 2:16-cv-00454-RFB-NJK, 2016 WL 890922, at *2 (D. Nev. Mar.
25 8, 2016).
26 Expanding on the fourth requirement, a complaint fails to state a claim if it simply
27 states that the Commissioner was wrong in denying a plaintiff benefits, for “[e]very
28 plaintiff appealing an adverse decision of the Commissioner believes that the
1 Commissioner was wrong.” Hoagland, 2012 WL 2521753, at *3. While § 405(g) does
2 not require that a complaint spell out the basis upon which relief might be granted, Rule
3 8(a) requires a civil plaintiff to assert the basis upon which he grounds his claim. Brown
4 v. Astrue, No. 11-CV-056-JL, 2011 WL 3664429, at *2 (D.N.H. Aug. 19, 2011). Thus,
5 “[a] complaint appealing the Commissioner’s denial of disability benefits must [include] a
6 brief statement of facts setting forth the reasons why the Commissioner’s decision was
7 wrong.” Hoagland, 2012 WL 2521753, at *2.
8 B. Discussion
9 Applying these four basic requirements to the Complaint here, the Court finds that
10 the Complaint is insufficient with respect to the third and fourth requirements. As to the
11 third requirement, the Complaint does not state the nature of Plaintiff’s disability and when
12 she became disabled; it simply states that she is “a disabled person who suffers from
13 multiple physical and mental disabilities.” (ECF No. 1 ¶ 8.) As to the fourth requirement,
14 the Complaint fails to allege any specific reasons for why the decision of the
15 Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) should be reversed or remanded. Instead, the
16 Complaint only includes conclusory allegations, such as the ALJ’s decision denying
17 Plaintiff’s claim “does not meet substantial evidence” and that the ALJ “improperly applied
18 the law to the facts of the case.” (See id. ¶¶ 19–22.) These statements do not identify the
19 nature of Plaintiff’s disagreement with the ALJ’s decision. See Montoya, 2016 WL
20 890922, at *2; see also Harris v. Colvin, 2014 WL 1095941, *4 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 17, 2014)
21 (finding complaint failed to state a claim where it failed to “specify . . . the respects in
22 which [plaintiff] contend[ed] that the ALJ’s findings [we]re not supported by substantial
23 evidence and/or that the proper legal standards were not applied.”) Accordingly, the Court
24 is obligated to sua sponte dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant
25 to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii).
26 III. CONCLUSION
27 For the reasons stated above, the Court hereby:
28 (1) GRANTS Plaintiff’s IFP Motion (ECF No. 2); and
1 (2) sua sponte DISMISSES the Complaint (ECF No. 1) without prejudice and
2 || with leave to amend for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Plaintiff
3 || shall have until April 20, 2022 to file an amended complaint that cures the deficiencies set
4 || forth above.
5 IT IS SO ORDERED.
6 || Dated: March 25, 2022
i U Burthendde
8 n. Jill L. Burkhardt
9 ited States Magistrate Judge
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