Federal Courts and the Poor: Lack of Standards and Uniformity in Civil In Forma Pauperis Pleadings

Andrew Hammond\u27s article, Pleading Poverty in Federal Court, shows that there is considerable variation in how federal courts consider requests by the poor for fee waivers in civil litigation. Courts not only use different forms to collect ability-to-pay information but they also apply different standards when determining whether fees should be waived. By focusing attention on federal court in forma pauperis motion practices, Hammond\u27s article sheds light on how the poor can be negatively impacted by routine court practices that might ordinarily be treated as merely administrative. Hammond makes a convincing argument that federal courts should have uniform standards for what information is collected and for the level of need that is associated with a fee waiver. Blending empirical work-a significant contribution of the article is that it catalogues the in forma pauperis forms used by all 94 federal district courts-with an appreciation for the struggles faced by poor litigants, Pleading Poverty in Federal Court is a wellwritten, targeted intervention that hopefully will improve the ability of the poor to access the federal courts