Opinion
No. 06-08-00044-CV
Date Submitted: August 27, 2008.
Date Decided: August 28, 2008.
On Appeal from the 3rd Judicial District Court, Anderson County, Texas, Trial Court No. 3-40708.
Before MORRISS, C.J., CARTER and MOSELEY, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice MOSELEY.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Simmons Theodore Yliyah Na'bi has filed suit against Lynwood Cook, Suzzan Fleming, Ken Kuykendall, and Charlotte West. Na'bi is imprisoned in the Goree Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville. The suit alleged that the defendants conspired together to single out Na'bi and other African-Americans in the unit by discontinuing their medically prescribed clipper shave passes. On its own motion, the trial court dismissed Na'bi's lawsuit without prejudice because "the claim is substantially similar to previous claims brought by the Plaintiff and realistic chance of ultimate success is slight." Na'bi now appeals that dismissal. We affirm.
This case has been transferred to this Court as part of the Texas Supreme Court's docket equalization program.
Chapter 14 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code governs all civil lawsuits (except for those under the Texas Family Code) brought by Texas inmates in a state district, county, justice of the peace, or small claims court and in which the inmate files an affidavit or unsworn declaration of the inability to pay the court costs associated with filing litigation. Tex. Civ. Prac. Rem. Code Ann. § 14.002 (Vernon 2002). We review a trial court's dismissal of such a lawsuit (filed pursuant to Chapter 14 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code) under an abuse of discretion standard. Clark v. Unit, 23 S.W.3d 420, 421 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2000, pet. denied). A trial court abuses its discretion when its decision is outside the zone of reasonable disagreement or when the court's decision is made without reference to guiding rules or principles. Id.; see also Breckenridge v. Nationsbank of Tex., N.A., 79 S.W.3d 151, 157 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2002, pet. denied).
A trial court may, on its own motion, dismiss an inmate's civil lawsuit under certain circumstances. One such instance when sua sponte dismissal is permitted is when the trial court finds the inmate's current lawsuit "is substantially similar to a previous claim filed by the inmate because the claim arises from the same operative facts." Tex. Civ. Prac. Rem. Code Ann. § 14.003(b)(4) (Vernon 2002).
In this case, Na'bi filed the affidavit required by Article 14.004 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. We have reviewed that affidavit, and Na'bi has filed eight lawsuits since 1999, four of which (including this one) involved his clipper shave pass. No abuse of discretion has been shown.
We affirm the judgment of the trial court.