Bonilla

Background

Steven Wayne Bonilla, identified as a state prisoner and a condemned prisoner, filed multiple complaints without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaints were nearly identical. They named several counties, state courts, and clerk’s offices as defendants and sought relief concerning Bonilla’s underlying conviction or the handling of his other state and federal cases.

The order also noted that Bonilla had a pending federal petition in the district court concerning his conviction, with appointed counsel, and was represented by counsel in state-court proceedings.

Filing-Fee Status

Bonilla was disqualified from proceeding without prepaying filing fees, a status commonly called proceeding in forma pauperis, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), unless he showed that he was in imminent danger of serious physical injury when he filed the complaint. The court found that the allegations did not show such imminent danger. It therefore stated that Bonilla could not proceed without prepaying the fees.

Other Legal Bars and Disposition

The court further stated that, even if an application to proceed without prepaying fees were granted, the lawsuits would be barred under the legal rules discussed in Heck v. Humphrey, Younger v. Harris, Demos v. U.S. District Court, or Mullis v. U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The opinion did not assign a particular one of those rules to each individual case or claim.

The court dismissed the cases with prejudice. It directed the clerk to terminate all pending motions and close the cases. It also directed the clerk to return, without filing, any further documents Bonilla submitted in the closed cases. Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton signed the order.