Ainsworth v. Monterey County Superior Court

Background

Tyrell Devonte Ainsworth, a state prisoner, filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against employees of the Monterey County Superior Court and other state actors, including Jeff Macomber, the Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and Xavier Becerra, the Attorney-General of California. He also applied to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning without prepaying the filing fee. The court initially granted that request.

The court later ordered Ainsworth to explain why the case should not be dismissed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), commonly called the prisoner “three-strikes” rule. That rule generally prevents a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying the filing fee after three earlier federal actions or appeals were dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim, unless the prisoner faced imminent danger of serious physical injury when the new action was filed.

The Three Strikes

The court identified three earlier federal actions by Ainsworth that appeared to qualify as strikes. Ainsworth filed two responses to the order to show cause, but he did not dispute that the three actions counted as strikes. The court also noted that another federal court had recently reached the same conclusion regarding those three actions.

Imminent-Danger Exception

Ainsworth relied on the exception for prisoners facing imminent danger of serious physical injury. He alleged that, when he filed this action, prison guards at California Men’s Colony had placed him in danger by unlocking another prisoner’s door and allowing that prisoner to attack him.

The court held that this allegation did not satisfy the exception because it had no connection to the claims in Ainsworth’s complaint. The alleged danger occurred at California Men’s Colony, while the complaint concerned alleged misconduct by the Monterey County Superior Court and other state actors who were not employed there. The court found that the alleged danger was not fairly traceable to the conduct asserted in the complaint and that a favorable ruling in this case would not remedy the injuries at the prison.

Disposition

Judge Rita F. Lin concluded that Ainsworth had not shown why the three-strikes restriction should not apply. He had not paid the filing fee, challenged the qualifying strikes, established the imminent-danger exception, or otherwise shown cause for avoiding dismissal.

The court revoked Ainsworth’s in forma pauperis status and dismissed the federal civil-rights action without prejudice to his bringing his claims in a new paid complaint. The clerk was directed to enter judgment in favor of the defendants and close the file.