Proceeding in forma pauperis — 28 U.S.C. § 1915

What this actually is

You can begin a civil or criminal action in a federal court WITHOUT prepaying fees if you file an affidavit showing you cannot afford them. Being broke does not close the courthouse. The same section lets a court request that an attorney represent someone unable to afford counsel. Two honest limits: prisoners are treated differently and must still pay the filing fee over time out of their trust account (an initial 20% of average monthly deposits, then 20% of the prior month’s income monthly), and a prisoner with three prior dismissals as frivolous or meritless generally loses IFP access unless in imminent danger of serious physical injury. Courts can also dismiss a case they find frivolous or failing to state a claim.

Who qualifies, and what trips people up

File the affidavit of financial inability with your complaint; prisoners must add a certified trust fund account statement for the preceding six months. Waiver of prepayment is not waiver of the case’s merits, and it does not pay for a lawyer by itself. State courts have their own separate fee waiver process — see the next entry.