McDc

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff-Appellant Omar Lopez brought § 1983 claims against five individual unnamed defendants at the Madera County Department of Corrections (collectively, “MCDC”), alleging that MCDC violated his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by serving him rotten food and by delaying treatment for his deteriorating eye condition. The district court denied Lopez leave to file without prepayment of the full filing fee, on the ground that Lopez’s complaint failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. We vacate, reverse, and remand.

1. Although the magistrate’s recommendation states that Lopez “requested leave to proceed in forma pawperis,” the record does not indicate that Lopez ever made such a request. We therefore vacate the district court’s order denying Lopez leave to file the action without prepayment of the full filing fee.

2. The district court may have intended to dismiss Lopez’s complaint, pursuant to mandatory screening under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), for failure to state a claim. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. So construing the district court’s denial of leave to proceed informa pauperis, see O’Neal v. Price, 531 F.3d 1146, 1153 (9th…