Summary
The Supreme Court denied certiorari in a case concerning whether indigent prisoners proceeding in forma pauperis may split a single filing fee when they jointly bring one federal civil action. Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Jackson, dissented from the denial, arguing that the Prison Litigation Reform Act does not require each prisoner to pay the full filing fee separately and that the Ninth Circuit's contrary decision deepened a circuit split. Justice Kagan would have granted the petition.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires each indigent prisoner proceeding in forma pauperis to pay a separate full filing fee when multiple prisoners jointly file one civil action.
- Whether 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a) and 1915(b)(1), (3) permit indigent prisoners proceeding in forma pauperis to split a single filing fee assessed for one case.
Key quotations
“The only reasonable way to make sense of the statutory scheme in its entirety is to recognize that courts may not, under §1915(b)(1), waive or reduce a prisoner’s filing fee, but also may not, under §§1914(a) and 1915(b)(3), collect more than a single filing fee for the whole case.” (607 U.S. ____ (2026), at 5)
“What that means is that indigent prisoners must be allowed to share the cost of a single filing fee.” (607 U.S. ____ (2026), at 5)
Factual background
Topaz Johnson, Ian Henderson, and a third incarcerated plaintiff alleged that corrections officers forced them to stand for nearly nine hours in filthy, urine-smelling cages measuring approximately 2.5 feet by 2.5 feet, with their hands cuffed behind their backs. They jointly sued for alleged Eighth Amendment violations and sought to proceed in forma pauperis, submitting affidavits that they had no money or income.
Procedural history
The District Court ordered the three prisoner plaintiffs to file separate lawsuits and required each to pay the full filing fee. The Ninth Circuit reversed the severance decision but affirmed the filing-fee ruling, holding that each prisoner proceeding in forma pauperis had to pay $350; the Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc. The Supreme Court denied certiorari.