Felice Lazae Martin, et al. v. Michael Castillo, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California directs Plaintiff Hector Joseph Borges to complete and file a long-form application to proceed in forma pauperis and directs Plaintiff Felice Lazae Martin to provide supplemental information concerning discrepancies in her application. The court also disregards an improper email transmittal, instructs the plaintiffs to stop submitting correspondence through court email addresses, and provides a 21-day deadline to comply or pay the filing fee.

Holdings

1. When multiple plaintiffs seek to proceed in forma pauperis in one action, each plaintiff must submit a separate application and independently qualify for IFP status.
2. An IFP application must provide sufficiently particular, definite, and certain information for the court to determine whether the applicant is entitled to proceed without prepayment of fees; materially conflicting financial information warrants supplemental information before the court rules on IFP status.
3. The court may disregard a pro se party's email transmittal of pleadings or motions when the party has not complied with the court's local filing and service requirements, and the party must desist from sending such communications to chambers or the court's emergency TRO inbox.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiffs could proceed in forma pauperis when one plaintiff had not submitted a separate application and the other plaintiff's financial information appeared incomplete or inconsistent.
2. Whether the court should accept plaintiffs' email transmittal of pleadings and an asserted emergency motion.
3. What procedural steps plaintiffs were required to take to avoid dismissal for failure to comply with a court order and failure to prosecute.

Disposition

other