California Men's Colony, Unit II Men's Adv. Council v. James Rowland, Director, James H. Gomez, Sara Bruce, Leslie Bandaccari

The California Men’s Colony, Unit II, Men’s Advisory Council (“the MAC”) appeals the district court’s denial of its motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (a) to proceed in forma pauperis in this civil rights action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . The district court denied the motion on the ground that the appellant had not made an adequate showing of indigency as required by § 1915. The court also denied the MAC’s request for reconsideration of that ruling. By order of July 20, 1990, we granted the MAC’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis for the purpose of addressing an issue of first impression in this Circuit: whether an organization may proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 . The district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(a)(3), and we have jurisdiction to review the denial of the MAC’s motion under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . Because we find that the plain meaning of the statute indicates that associations may be authorized to proceed in forma pauperis, we reverse the district court’s ruling.

BACKGROUND

The MAC, which was created by the warden of California Men’s Colony, is an association of inmates, elected by the general prison population,…