Sivak v. Perea

Background

Lacey Sivak, identified in the order as an Idaho state prisoner and frequent litigant, filed the captioned actions while representing himself. The court had denied his requests to proceed without paying filing fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), a provision commonly called the prisoner “three-strikes” rule. The court found that Sivak had at least three prior dismissals that counted under the statute, had not alleged a specific imminent danger of serious physical injury when he filed the actions, and did not otherwise meet the standard for proceeding without paying the fees.

The court directed Sivak to pay the full filing fee within 14 days or face dismissal without prejudice. Instead of paying, he appealed some of the orders. The court explained that an interlocutory appeal generally transfers jurisdiction over the appealed issues to the court of appeals, but a notice of appeal from an interlocutory order is not considered filed until the court of appeals permits the appeal. Because the Ninth Circuit had not granted permission, the district court retained jurisdiction over these actions.

Ruling

The payment deadlines had passed. The court therefore dismissed without prejudice each action. Sivak may move to reopen any action after paying its full filing fee, and a separate full filing fee is required for each case he seeks to reopen and pursue.

The court also denied any pending motion for leave to proceed without paying the filing fee on appeal under § 1915(g), for the same reasons it had denied that status in the district court. The order states that the Ninth Circuit will independently review any request to proceed without paying the appellate fee. The Clerk was directed to terminate as moot all other pending motions and close all of the captioned cases.

Classification basis

This is a procedural order. It resolved filing-fee and prisoner-filing-status issues and dismissed the actions for failure to pay the required fees; it did not decide the underlying claims.