Bonilla v. Simons

Background

Steven Wayne Bonilla, identified as a state prisoner and a condemned prisoner, filed multiple civil-rights complaints without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The defendants included various federal and state court judges. The complaints presented very similar claims seeking relief related to Bonilla’s underlying conviction and to the handling of his other petitions and cases.

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

Filing-fee restriction

To the extent Bonilla sought permission to proceed without paying the filing fee, the court stated that he was barred from doing so under the “three-strikes” provision of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), unless he showed that he faced an imminent danger of serious physical injury when he filed the complaints. The court found that the allegations did not show such a danger.

Other legal bars

The court further stated that, even if Bonilla’s applications to proceed without paying the filing fee were granted, the lawsuits would be barred under the legal rules identified in Heck v. Humphrey, Younger v. Harris, Demos v. U.S. District Court, and Mullis v. U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The opinion does not provide a separate merits analysis of the underlying claims.

Disposition

The court dismissed the cases with prejudice. It also rejected the argument that the assigned judge’s impartiality could reasonably be questioned because of the repetitive and frivolous filings. The clerk was directed to terminate all pending motions and close the cases, and to return without filing any further documents submitted by Bonilla in the closed cases.

Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton signed the order.