Bonilla v. Marin County Superior Court

Background

Steven Wayne Bonilla, a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed multiple civil-rights complaints under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaints were nearly identical. They named various state superior courts and state judges as defendants and sought relief concerning Bonilla’s underlying conviction or the way state and federal courts handled his other cases.

The court noted that Bonilla was a condemned prisoner with a pending federal petition challenging his custody in the same court, where he had appointed counsel. The court also noted that he was represented by counsel in state-court proceedings.

Filing-fee status

To the extent Bonilla sought permission to proceed without paying the filing fee, the court said 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) disqualified him from doing so unless he showed that he was in imminent danger of serious physical injury when he filed his complaints. The court relied on earlier proceedings identifying that restriction. It found that the allegations did not show imminent danger at the time of filing.

Other legal barriers

The court further stated that, even if Bonilla’s applications to proceed without paying the filing fee were granted, his lawsuits would be barred under Heck v. Humphrey, Younger v. Harris, Demos v. U.S. District Court, or Mullis v. U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The opinion did not provide a separate merits determination of the underlying conviction-related claims.

Disposition

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