Burns v. Detective Capana
George Burns v. Detective Campana of the City of Yonkers, New York, Police Department, et al.
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-06348
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Burns v. Campana, Chief Judge Swain denied fee-waiver status and dismissed the action without prejudice under the federal prison litigation law’s three-strikes rule.
The order directly affects George Burns’s request to proceed without paying filing fees and dismisses this action without prejudice. It also continues to restrict his ability to file future federal civil actions without paying fees while he is imprisoned, unless the stated immediate-danger exception applies. The opinion does not decide the merits of his allegations against the defendants.
What happened
George Burns filed this case without a lawyer while held in the Westchester County Jail and asked to proceed without paying filing fees. The case concerns allegations arising from his May 14, 2023 arrest, later prosecution, and an earlier physical altercation possibly involving a Yonkers Police Department member.
The court said Burns had already been barred from filing new federal civil cases without paying fees while imprisoned because of three or more earlier cases dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or legally insufficient. The complaint did not show that he faced an immediate danger of serious physical injury when he filed it, so the three-strikes exception did not apply.
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Burns’s request to proceed without paying fees and dismissed the action without prejudice under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal and said Burns remains barred from filing future federal civil actions without paying fees while imprisoned unless he alleges an immediate danger of serious physical injury.
The detailed version
- Burns v. Detective Capana · No. 1:25-cv-06348
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 27, 2025
Background
George Burns brought this federal civil action without a lawyer. The opinion says he began the case while held in the Westchester County Jail and appears to be currently incarcerated at the Elmira Correctional Facility. He requested permission to proceed without paying the filing fee.
Burns’s allegations arose from his May 14, 2023 arrest and subsequent prosecution. He also alleged that he had a physical altercation with someone who may have been a member of the Yonkers Police Department before the arrest.
Three-strikes restriction
The court relied on 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), part of the Prison Litigation Reform Act. That provision generally prevents a prisoner from bringing a federal civil action without paying the filing fee after three or more prior federal actions or appeals were dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or legally insufficient. The exception applies when the prisoner is under an immediate danger of serious physical injury.
The court said Burns had previously been recognized as barred by this rule in a prior related proceeding. It concluded that his complaint did not show an immediate danger of serious physical injury when he filed it. The events described in the complaint concerned the 2023 arrest, prosecution, and earlier altercation rather than an immediate danger existing when the complaint was filed.
Ruling
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Burns’s request to proceed without paying the filing fee and dismissed the action without prejudice under the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s three-strikes provision. The order states that Burns may start a new federal civil action by paying the applicable fees, after which the complaint would be subject to prisoner screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.
The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the action. Burns remains barred from filing future federal civil actions without paying fees while he is a prisoner unless he is under an immediate danger of serious physical injury when he files the complaint.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.