Antrobus v. Department of Corrections
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-09474
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Antrobus v. Department of Corrections, Judge Swain denied Andre Antrobus’s fee-waiver request and dismissed his complaint without prejudice under the three-strikes rule.
Andre Antrobus, who sought to proceed without paying the filing fee while subject to the prisoner three-strikes rule; the complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and the court denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
What happened
In Antrobus v. Department of Corrections, Andre Antrobus filed the action without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying the filing fee. The court had previously ordered him to explain why a federal law should not bar that request while he was a prisoner, but he did not submit the required declaration.
The court found that Antrobus had filed at least three cases while incarcerated that were dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failing to state a legal claim. Under the law’s “three-strikes” rule, a prisoner generally cannot proceed without paying the filing fee after three such dismissals, unless he faces an imminent threat of serious physical injury.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Antrobus’s request to proceed without paying the filing fee and dismissed the complaint without prejudice. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal and stated that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Antrobus v. Department of Corrections · No. 1:24-cv-09474
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 27, 2025
Background
Andre Antrobus filed the action without a lawyer and sought permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. The court had previously determined that, while Antrobus was a prisoner, he had filed three or more cases dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim. Those dismissals are called “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).
The court ordered Antrobus to submit a declaration within 30 days explaining why the three-strikes bar should not apply to him. He did not submit the declaration, and the deadline expired.
Legal standard and ruling
Section 1915(g), part of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, bars a prisoner with three or more qualifying strikes from filing future actions without paying the filing fee unless the prisoner is under an imminent threat of serious physical injury. The court found that Antrobus had three or more qualifying strikes.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Antrobus’s request to proceed without paying the filing fee and dismissed the complaint without prejudice under the three-strikes rule. “Without prejudice” means the dismissal itself does not bar refiling. The court’s footnote states that Antrobus may begin a new action by paying the filing fee; any such prisoner civil-rights complaint would be reviewed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.