Opinion
No. 08 C 2894.
June 12, 2008
MEMORANDUM ORDER
On May 21, 2008 this Court dismissed, on grounds of legal frivolousness, the most recent 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983") action brought by frequent litigator Javier Bailey ("Bailey"). Now Bailey has submitted what he labels "Motion for Relief from Judgement [sic] or Order," tendered under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b), seeking to avoid the imposition of a "strike" for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) ("Section 1915(g)") by reason of that dismissal.
What Bailey has ignored is that even if he were correct in the contention that he now advances that he is entitled to relief because he lacked adequate access to legal materials before he filed this most recent lawsuit, it would do him no good. Immediately after the May 21 dismissal this Court was provided with information as to Bailey's prior litigation history, confirming that he had already accumulated three "strikes" evenbefore the most recent lawsuit, and this Court promptly issued a May 22 memorandum order so stating.
That being so, Bailey is subject to the constraints imposed by Section 1915(g) whether or not his current motion could be viewed with favor. But this Court is constrained to add that given the quarter-century-old principle that public defenders are immune from Section 1983 liability, and given the active prison grapevine regarding frequently-encountered issues in prisoner litigation, it still seems highly doubtful that Bailey had any reasonable predicate for shooting first and asking questions later, as he did by filing this lawsuit.