Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Forma Pauperis Denial
- The Constitution protects a citizen's right to access the courts. Litigants cannot be barred from accessing the courts because they are too poor to afford legal fees. Forcing indigent litigants to pay a required legal fee when the litigant has no means to do so is the same as effectively barring that person from being heard in court. This would be a violation of at least that person's rights under the First and Fifth amendments, which bestow the rights of freedom of speech and the right to due process.
- Indigent litigants can apply to the court to proceed in forma pauperis. The term means "in the form of a pauper." The FRCP recognizes this status as set forth in Rule 4c(3), which allows the court to order service of process by U.S. marshals if the litigant is proceeding in forma pauperis.
The statute conferring in forma pauperis is 28 U.S.C. 1915. To qualify, the litigant must be a prisoner housed by a state or federal prison. The litigant must then submit an affidavit to the court detailing all the assets that prisoner has, which provides the court with evidence that the litigant cannot pay the fees. The court will then make a determination as to whether the litigant is authorized to proceed without paying the fees. - A litigant who wishes to challenge a determination of in forma pauperis status must follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure if the lawsuit has been filed in a federal court. Whenever a litigant is asking the court to do something, such as make a determination on some issue, the litigant must file a motion.
Motions are governed by FRCP 7(b), which requires that the motion be in writing, state with particularity the law that the litigant is relying on and state the relief sought. A litigant seeking to challenge in forma pauperis status must file a written document that states the purpose is to ask that the court deny in forma pauperis status and to state what law the litigant relies on. The law could come from cases or from not complying with the statute. The court will then hear arguments if necessary and make a determination. - If a litigant's in forma pauperis status is denied, the litigant must pay all the required fees or the action will be dismissed. The dismissal will likely be without prejudice, which means the litigant is free to re-file the action at a later date. This might seem technical, but it is quite critical. If the dismissal was made "with prejudice," the opposing party could defend any attempt by the litigant to re-file the lawsuit by asserting the principles of res judicata, which is an affirmative defense that bars the litigant from suing an individual twice on the same matter. "With prejudice" denotes that that action is final; the court has granted relief. "Without prejudice" allows the litigant to re-file and essentially stands for the ground that re-filing would not prejudice the other party.
- As with any procedure, the litigants must properly file their motions in a timely manner. The time frame will vary from district to district, but it is generally a short time frame, usually seven to 14 days.