194
OCTOBER TERM, 1992
Syllabus
certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit
No. 91-1188. Argued October 6, 1992—Decided January 12, 1993
In a suit filed in the District Court against petitioner state correctional officers, respondent, a representative association of inmates in a California prison, sought leave to proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U. S. C. § 1915(a), which permits litigation without prepayment of fees, costs, or security "by a person who makes affidavit that he is unable to pay." The court denied the motion for an inadequate showing of indigency. In reversing that decision, the Court of Appeals noted that a "person" who may be authorized to proceed in forma pauperis under § 1915(a) may be an "association" under the Dictionary Act, 1 U. S. C. § 1, which in relevant part provides that "in determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, unless the context indicates otherwise" " 'person' " includes "associations" and other artificial entities such as corporations and societies.
Held: Only a natural person may qualify for treatment in forma pauperis under § 1915. Pp. 199-212. (a) "Context," as used in 1 U. S. C. § 1, means the text of the Act of Congress surrounding the word at issue or the texts of other related congressional Acts, and this is simply an instance of the word's ordinary meaning. Had Congress intended to point to a broader definition that would include things such as legislative history, it would have been natural to use a more spacious phrase. In contrast to the narrow meaning of "context," "indication" bespeaks something more than an express contrary definition, addressing the situation where Congress provides no particular definition, but the definition in § 1 seems not to fit. Pp. 199-201. (b) Four contextual features indicate that "person" in 28 U. S. C. § 1915(a) refers only to individuals. First, the permissive language used in § 1915(d)—that a "court may request an attorney to represent any such person unable to employ counsel" (emphasis added)—suggests that Congress assumed that courts would sometimes leave the "person" to conduct litigation on his own behalf, and, thus, also assumed that the "person" has the legal capacity to petition the court for appointment of
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