Bonilla v. Monterey County Superior Court Judges

Background

Steven Wayne Bonilla filed multiple pro se civil-rights complaints under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a statute allowing certain civil-rights claims against government actors. The complaints named various federal and state judges and state courts. The court described the claims as nearly identical and said Bonilla sought relief concerning his underlying conviction or the way state and federal courts handled his other cases.

The opinion states that Bonilla is a state prisoner sentenced to death. He has a pending federal petition in the same district court with appointed counsel, and he is represented by counsel in state proceedings concerning a petition challenging his custody or conviction.

Reasoning

The court addressed Bonilla’s possible requests to proceed without paying filing fees. It held that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) disqualified him from proceeding that way unless he was in immediate danger of serious physical injury when he filed the complaints. The court found that the allegations did not show such danger.

The court further stated that, even if an application to proceed without paying fees were granted, the lawsuits would be barred under Heck v. Humphrey, Younger v. Harris, Demos v. U.S. District Court, or Mullis v. U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The opinion did not decide the underlying civil-rights allegations on their merits.

The court also concluded that the repetitive and allegedly frivolous filings did not provide a basis for reasonably questioning the assigned judge’s impartiality. It cited the principle that, absent legitimate reasons for disqualification, a judge has a duty to decide assigned cases.

Disposition

The court dismissed the cases with prejudice. It ordered the clerk to terminate all pending motions and close the cases. It also directed the clerk to return, without filing, any further documents Bonilla submitted in the closed cases. Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton signed the order.