Davis v. Trump
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02101
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Davis v. Trump, Judge Swain revoked Raheem Davis’s filing-fee waiver and dismissed his complaint without prejudice under the prisoner three-strikes rule.
Raheem Davis, whose complaint was dismissed without prejudice and whose ability to file actions without paying fees is restricted while he remains in custody, subject to the stated exception for an immediate danger of serious physical injury.
What happened
Davis v. Trump involved Raheem Davis’s lawsuit against President Donald Trump and other defendants. Davis, who was representing himself and was incarcerated, asked to proceed without paying the filing fee, and the court had initially granted that request.
The court determined that Davis had accumulated at least three prior dismissals or appeals that counted under the prisoner three-strikes rule. Because his complaint did not show that he faced an immediate danger of serious physical injury, the court concluded that he could not proceed without paying the filing fee.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain revoked Davis’s fee-waiver status, directed the Clerk to cancel the earlier order granting it, and dismissed the complaint without prejudice. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal and said Davis remains barred from filing new actions without paying fees while in custody unless he faces an immediate danger of serious physical injury.
The detailed version
- Davis v. Trump · No. 1:25-cv-02101
- Laura Swain
- July 23, 2025
Background
Raheem Davis, also identified in the opinion as Raheen Davis, filed this action while incarcerated at USP Florence. He represented himself and sued President Donald Trump; the U.S. Attorney General; former Presidents George W. Bush, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama; and the United States Supreme Court. Davis asked to proceed without paying the filing fee. The court had granted that request on April 17, 2025.
Three-strikes rule
The court later determined that Davis was barred from proceeding without paying the filing fee under the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s three-strikes rule, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). That rule generally prevents a prisoner from bringing a civil action without paying the filing fee after three or more earlier actions or appeals were dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or insufficiently pleaded, unless the prisoner faces an immediate danger of serious physical injury.
The court stated that it had independently confirmed that Davis had at least three qualifying strikes from prior actions or appeals. The opinion also stated that Davis’s current allegations concerned alleged conspiracies involving four presidents and did not show an immediate danger of serious physical injury existing when he filed the complaint.
Ruling
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain revoked Davis’s status allowing him to proceed without paying the filing fee and directed the Clerk of Court to cancel the April 17, 2025 order that had granted that status. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under the three-strikes rule. This means the dismissal itself did not bar Davis from starting a new action by paying the filing fees, although any new prisoner civil-rights complaint would be subject to the required screening process.
The court also stated that Davis remains barred from filing future actions without paying the filing fee while he is in custody, unless he is under an immediate threat of serious physical injury. It certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.