Statutory Interpretation – PLRA – IFP Application

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Shauntae Robertson v. Glendal French, Lieutenant, et al.,

Case No.: 17-3579

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and KANNE and BRENNAN, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Statutory Interpretation – PLRA – IFP Application

Hoping to find an effective way to curb frivolous lawsuits by prisoners, Congress enacted the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”) in 1996. Central to the law is its requirement that a prisoner who cannot pay a federal court’s filing fee at the time he files a case must pay the fee in installments out of his future income.

The critical question under the PLRA is the prisoner-litigant’s financial position at the time he files his complaint. Robertson truthfully disclosed all funds to which he had access at the time he filed his IFP application. Moreover, taking the current record in the light most favorable to Robertson, any failure to disclose the expected $4,000 was at best inadvertent, which is not enough to make it “untrue.” Finally, with respect to funds that are deposited into the prison trust account, we are satisfied that this deposit is, in itself, adequate disclosure to the prison authorities of changes in the prisoner’s income. We thus conclude that the district court should not have dismissed Robertson’s case for an “untrue” allegation of poverty. We REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Reversed and remanded

Full Text

Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.