Grimes v. Scorpion, LLC

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California denied Jerome L. Grimes’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 Grimes had accumulated more than three qualifying dismissals and had not plausibly alleged imminent danger of serious physical injury. The court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to pay the $402 filing fee, certified that an IFP appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the Clerk to close the case.

Holdings

1. A prisoner who has accumulated three or more prior actions or appeals dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim may not proceed in forma pauperis in a subsequent federal civil action unless the statutory imminent-danger exception applies. Grimes had accumulated far more than three qualifying strikes and was therefore barred from proceeding IFP.
2. The imminent-danger exception requires a plausible allegation that the prisoner faced imminent danger of serious physical injury at the time of filing, and the alleged danger must be fairly traceable to unlawful conduct alleged in the complaint and redressable by the court. Grimes did not satisfy that requirement.
3. When a prisoner is denied IFP status under § 1915(g) and does not pay the full statutory filing fee, the civil action may be dismissed without prejudice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Grimes was barred from proceeding in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) because he had accumulated three or more qualifying strikes.
2. Whether Grimes established the imminent-danger exception to the three-strikes bar.
3. Whether the action should be dismissed without prejudice for failure to pay the full filing fee after IFP status was denied.

Disposition

dismissed