In forma pauperis
In forma pauperis (IFP or i.f.p.) is a Latin legal term meaning "in the character or manner of a pauper".[1] In the United States, the IFP designation is given by both state and federal courts to someone who is without the funds to pursue the normal costs of a lawsuit or a criminal defense.[1] The status is usually granted by a judge without a hearing, and it entitles the person to a waiver of normal costs, and sometimes in criminal cases the appointment of counsel. While court-imposed costs such as filing fees are waived, the litigant is still responsible for other costs incurred in bringing the action such as deposition and witness fees.
Approximately two-thirds of writ of certiorari petitions to the Supreme Court are filed in forma pauperis.[2][3] Most of those petitioners are prisoners.[2] Petitions that appear on the Supreme Court's in forma pauperis docket are substantially less likely to be granted review than others on the docket.[4]
IFP status is usually granted in connection to pro se petitioners, but the two concepts are separate and distinct.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Henry Campbell Black. (1979). Black's Law Dictionary (5th ed.). West Publishing. p. 701. ISBN 0-829-92041-2.
- ^ a b Wrightsman, Lawrence S. (2006). The Psychology of the Supreme Court. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-195-30604-X. http://books.google.com/?id=c7NjaSd5N14C&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=two+thirds+certiorari+pauperis.
- ^ Stephens, Otis H.; Scheb, John M. (2002). American Constitutional Law. Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN 0-534-54570-X.
- ^ Thompson, David C.; Wachtell, Melanie F. (2009). "An Empirical Analysis of Supreme Court Certiorari Petition Procedures". George Mason University Law Review 16 (2): 237, 241. SSRN 1377522.
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