Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:17-CV-1448
05-29-2018
CALVIN LEWIS v. ORLANDO BEENE, ET AL.
MAG. JUDGE PEREZ-MONTES
RULING
Pending before the Court is a motion filed by pro se Plaintiff Calvin Lewis, which has been construed by the Clerk of Court as a Motion to Reopen/Reinstate Case. [Doc. No. 20] This matter involves a civil rights complaint filed by Plaintiff, an inmate in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Corrections, incarcerated at Bayou Dorcheat Detention Center in Minden, Louisiana. On November 22, 2017, the Magistrate Judge granted Plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis. [Doc. No. 8] On January 5, 2018, the Magistrate Judge rescinded the foregoing Order, finding Plaintiff was barred from proceeding in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). [Doc. No. 13] The Magistrate Judge further cautioned Plaintiff that unless he paid "the full filing fee of four hundred dollars ($400.00) within twenty (20) days," his pleadings would be "stricken from the record." Id. at 2 (emphasis omitted). Plaintiff failed to comply with the directives of the Magistrate Judge, and his complaint was stricken from the record on January 29, 2018. [Doc. No. 17].
28 U.S.C. 1915(g) reads as follows:
In no event shall a prisoner bring a civil action . . . under this section if the prisoner has, on 3 or more prior occasions, while incarcerated or detained in any facility, brought an action or appeal in a court of the United States that was dismissed on the grounds that it is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Plaintiff has now filed the pending Motion to Reopen/Reinstate Case. Pursuant to his motion, Plaintiff states "the filing fee . . . will be paid immediately upon Mr. Lewis release in August of 2018," and asks the Court to "keep the books on this case to remain open until justice can and will be served." [Doc. No. 20 at 1]. As Plaintiff has accumulated more than three strikes for purposes of section 1915(g), he is barred from proceeding further under the foregoing statute, and therefore, this matter is dismissed. See e.g. Adepegba v. Hammons, 103 F.3d 383, 388 (5th Cir. 1996). Should Plaintiff wish to resume any claim dismissed in this matter, he must do so under the fee provisions of 28 U.S.C. §§ 1911-14.
In light of the foregoing, this civil action is DISMISSED with prejudice as to the refiling of another in forma pauperis lawsuit raising the same claims as herein presented, but without prejudice to the refiling of the lawsuit upon payment of the full filing fee.
Signed at Monroe, Louisiana, this 29th day of May, 2018.
/s/ _________
ROBERT G. JAMES
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Id. Because Plaintiff in this matter has had at least four prior civil rights cases dismissed as frivolous or for failing to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, and because Plaintiff failed to show he is under "imminent danger of serious physical injury," the Magistrate Judge found Plaintiff was barred from proceeding in forma pauperis in this matter. [Doc. No. 13 at 1-2 & n.1]