Basa previously sued the CNMI Department of Corrections, the U.S. Marshals Service, among other defendants, for alleged constitutional violations.
But Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona denied his request to proceed in forma pauperis in the complaint which he filed with another inmate, Edwin Blas.
According to an online legal dictionary, “in forma pauperis” refers to an indigent person allowed to proceed in court without payment of the usual fees associated with a lawsuit or appeal.
Basa filed his previous complaint while in jail on Guam.
In his new letter, he told the court that he is now at a detention center in Honolulu, Hawaii, and that the two birthdates in his case file follow him whenever he is transferred to another prison facility.
He said one of the birthdates logged on to his record was his older brother’s who also served time in federal prison.
Basa said his older brother was convicted in the early 1990’s for having sex with his minor girlfriend.
Basa added that his older brother is a registered NMI sex-offender.
He said it would be very dangerous for him if other inmates find out that he has a sex-offender conviction in his record.
He asked the federal court to correct the error in his record so that he could be cleared of any sex-offender conviction in his file.
Basa also wants to follow up on the status of his original complaint.
He and fellow inmate Blas have named as defendants Don Hall and Alfred Celis of the U.S. Marshals Service Saipan; CNMI Department of Corrections officials Georgia Cabrera, Jose K. Pangelinan, Maria Aldan, Raymond Mafnas and Vince Attao; an unnamed senator; and an unnamed Saipan food service contractor.
Basa and Blas also asked for a protective order for potential retaliation from the defendants.
Basa and Blas sued the defendants for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Basa and Blas, who are seeking damages, also want to be allowed to complete their prison sentences on Saipan.
The two are serving their revocation sentences.
On Feb. 20, 2020, Judge Manglona revoked Blas’s supervised release and sentenced him to 18 months in prison.
On June 16, 2020, the court also revoked Basa’s supervised release and sentenced him to 11 months in prison.
Both inmates were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal to be transported to the Bureau of Prisons.
At some point in time, they were transported from Saipan to Guam.
According to Judge Manglona’s order, “Anyone intending to file a new civil lawsuit in the court must first pay a $400 filing fee.”
She said “pro se prisoners are not exempt from this fee requirement. A prisoner may commence a lawsuit in forma pauperis — in other words, without prepaying the filing fee — only if the prisoner proves an inability to pay.”
She said when there are “multiple plaintiffs in a single action, the plaintiffs may not proceed in forma pauperis unless all of them demonstrate inability to pay the filing fee.”
To continue with this lawsuit, the judge added, the plaintiffs must pay the filing fee in full. “Failure to pay the filing fee within30 days of this order will result in the dismissal of this action without prejudice,” the judge said.
As of press time Tuesday evening, it was not known if the plaintiffs paid the filing fee on Nov. 3.
In 2006, Basa was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams of methamphetamine.
He was placed on probation after completing the prison term.
The federal court had revoked Basa’s supervised release several times in the past for violating the conditions of his probation.
As for Blas, he was sentenced by Judge Manglona in July 2018 to 14 months imprisonment and 27 months of supervised release for violating his probation — he punched his wife while he was intoxicated.
In addition, Blas is a registered sex offender and has other previous convictions in both local and federal courts.
