James Jerrod Spikes v. Tobey Leos, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied James Jerrod Spikes’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis under the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s three-strikes provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). The court found that Spikes had accumulated at least three qualifying prior dismissals and had not shown that he was in imminent danger of serious physical injury, and it ordered the matter administratively closed unless he paid the filing fee.

Holdings

1. A prisoner who has accumulated three prior qualifying dismissals may not proceed in forma pauperis unless the complaint satisfies the imminent-danger exception in 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Because Spikes had accumulated three qualifying strikes, he was prohibited from proceeding as a pauper.
2. The imminent-danger exception requires a real and proximate threat of serious physical injury that exists when the complaint is filed; past, speculative, hypothetical, or indefinite future harm is insufficient. Spikes did not allege facts demonstrating such danger.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Spikes was barred by the Prison Litigation Reform Act's three-strikes provision from proceeding in forma pauperis.
2. Whether Spikes qualified for the imminent-danger exception to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).

Disposition

other