Bonilla v. Chhabria

Background

Steven Wayne Bonilla, a state prisoner representing himself, filed multiple civil-rights complaints under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The order covers the case numbers listed in the caption. The complaints presented nearly identical claims against various federal and state judges and other officials. Bonilla sought relief concerning his underlying conviction or the way his other cases had been handled by state and federal courts.

The opinion noted that Bonilla had a pending federal petition challenging his conviction in the same court, with appointed counsel, and that he was also represented by counsel in state-court proceedings challenging his conviction.

Filing-fee ruling

The court stated that Bonilla had previously been disqualified from proceeding without paying filing fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), unless he was in immediate danger of serious physical injury when he filed the complaint. The court found that the allegations in these cases did not show such danger. Bonilla therefore could not proceed without paying the filing fee.

Other legal bars and disposition

The court further stated that, even if an application to proceed without paying filing fees were granted, the lawsuits would be barred under the authorities it cited: Heck v. Humphrey, Younger v. Harris, Demos v. U.S. District Court, and Mullis v. U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The court dismissed the cases with prejudice. This was a threshold disposition; the opinion did not decide the underlying civil-rights claims on their merits.

The court also stated that the repetitive and frivolous nature of the filings did not provide a basis to reasonably question the assigned judge’s impartiality. The clerk was ordered to terminate all pending motions and close the cases, and to return without filing any further documents Bonilla submits in those closed cases. The court also noted Bonilla’s extensive history of filing similar frivolous cases.