Barth v. C.S.R. Doe-1

Background

Shawn Damon Barth, a state prisoner, brought this federal civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a law allowing claims against state actors for violations of federal rights. He also filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning to proceed without paying the filing fee.

The court issued an order requiring Barth to show why the prisoner three-strikes rule should not prevent him from proceeding without paying. That rule, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), generally bars a prisoner from proceeding without paying the filing fee if the prisoner has had three or more earlier federal actions or appeals dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim. The court identified three earlier federal actions that appeared to qualify as strikes and informed Barth that he could avoid dismissal by paying the filing fee by the deadline.

Discussion

The court found that Barth did not file a proper response to the order. His filings did not show that any of the three identified dismissals failed to qualify as strikes, establish that he met the exception for imminent danger of serious physical injury, or otherwise explain why the three-strikes restriction should not apply. He also did not pay the filing fee.

Ruling

The court denied Barth’s applications to proceed without paying the filing fee. It dismissed the federal civil-rights action without prejudice to Barth bringing his claims in a new paid complaint. The court also ordered the Clerk to terminate the pending motions, enter judgment in favor of the defendants, and close the file. Judge Tam H. Orrick signed the order.