Opinion
C.A. No. 08-26, Doc. No. 11.
April 15, 2008
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Plaintiff in this case has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Plaintiff requests that the Court provide him/her with 23 copies of his complaint for service at no cost. The in forma pauperis statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, allows for the waiver of prepayment filing fees, but does not provide for the payment of any other litigation expenses. There is no statute this Court is aware of that authorizes the court to commit federal funds to pay for expenses in a civil litigation matter. Tabron v. Grace, 6 F.3d 147, 158-59 (3d Cir. 1993). See also Perkins v. Rich, 198 F. Supp 615 (D.C. Del 1961) (holding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915 applied only to court costs and did not authorize the plaintiff to be furnished with copies free of charge); In re Fullman, 152 F. 2d 141 (App.D.C. 1945) (finding that there is no provision in 28 U.S.C. § 1915 requiring the district court or the clerk thereof to furnish the indigent litigant with copies of papers or records.)
Therefore, Plaintiff's request for copies to be provided by this Court at no cost is not required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915, and is accordingly DENIED.
In the alternative, Plaintiff requests an additional extension of 60 days to provide service copies. The court notes that the complaint was filed in January of this year. Plaintiff, a frequent litigator, is well aware of the requirement that service copies be provided. He chose to name 23 defendants in this action. No copies have been provided and the court, sua sponte, ordered that copies be provided no later than April 22, 2008. Plaintiff avers that he does not have sufficient funds to make all of the necessary copies. The court notes that the copies may be handwritten. The court will, however, grant Plaintiff an additional extension until May 22, 2008.