Opinion
03-C-4O3-C
August 19, 2003
ORDER
Petitioner Parish Golden, a prisoner at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin, has submitted a proposed complaint. He asks for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Because petitioner is a prisoner, he is subject to the 1996 Prisoner Litigation Reform Act. This means that before this court may decide whether he can proceed with his complaint in forma pauperis, petitioner will have to pay an initial partial payment of the filing fee in the amount of $8.11 and the remainder of the fee in monthly installments even if his request for leave to proceed is denied. Also, in a letter accompanying his complaint, petitioner states that he is a "protective custody inmate" whose true identity cannot be revealed. He asks that the court seal the documents in his case and refer to him as "Prisoner 18" in the caption of the complaint and presumably in all communications with him relating to his lawsuit. That request will be denied.
Petitioner will not be able to prosecute this action if he cannot receive communications from the court and the defendants. It seems highly unlikely that petitioner's true identity is unknown to mail room staff at the Dodge Correctional Institution and that everyone at the prison is referring to petitioner as "Prisoner 18" in order to protect his identity. To the contrary, it appears that petitioner already is recognized at the institution as Parish Golden, given the fact that petitioner has used his true name and inmate number in the return address portion of envelopes bearing his communications to this court.
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that petitioner is assessed $8.11 as an initial partial payment of the $150 fee for filing this case. He is to submit a check or money order made payable to the clerk of court in the amount of $8.11 on or before September 9, 2003. If, by September 9, 2003, petitioner fails to pay the initial partial payment or show cause for his failure to do so, he will be held to have withdrawn this action voluntarily. In that event, the clerk of court is directed to close this file without prejudice to petitioner's filing his case at a later date.
Further, IT IS ORDERED that petitioner's request that the court seal the documents in this case and refer to him as "Prisoner 18" is DENIED.