Barth v. Broomfield

Background

Shawn Damon Barth, identified as a state prisoner, filed a federal civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and asked to proceed without paying the filing fee under the federal prisoner-litigation statute. That statute generally prevents a prisoner from proceeding without paying after three or more prior federal actions or appeals were dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim, unless the prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury.

The court had identified three earlier federal actions as apparent qualifying dismissals, or “strikes”: an earlier case dismissed for failure to state a claim and other stated defects; another case dismissed after Barth failed to correct pleading defects; and a third case dismissed for failure to state a claim and because the allegations were excessively long and unclear. The opinion also states that the dismissal in the third case was upheld on appeal.

Court’s Analysis

The court ordered Barth to explain why the filing restriction should not apply and gave him additional time to respond. The order also informed him that he could avoid dismissal by paying the filing fee by the deadline. Barth filed no response, did not pay the filing fee, did not show that any of the identified dismissals failed to qualify as strikes, and did not show that he met the imminent-danger exception.

The court therefore concluded that Barth had not shown a reason why the filing restrictions should not apply. The ruling concerned whether Barth could proceed without paying the filing fee; the court did not decide the underlying civil-rights claims.

Disposition

Judge William H. Orrick denied Barth’s application to proceed without paying the filing fee. The federal civil-rights action was dismissed without prejudice to Barth bringing his claims in a new paid complaint. The clerk was directed to terminate pending motions, enter judgment in favor of the defendants, and close the file.