Johnson v. Rosalez
- Jeffrey White
- 4:22-cv-04091
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
Johnson v. Cuevas: Judge White revoked fee-waiver status, required payment of the filing fee, and denied Johnson’s premature summary-judgment motion.
Paul David Johnson must pay the $350 filing fee within 28 days to continue this case; the defendants’ motion to revoke his fee-waiver status was granted, and his summary-judgment motion was denied as premature.
What happened
In Paul David Johnson v. A. Cuevas, et al., Johnson, an inmate, claimed that defendants retaliated against him for filing earlier lawsuits. He had been allowed to proceed without paying the filing fee upfront.
The court found that Johnson had at least three earlier cases or appeals that counted as dismissals under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. It also found that he had not shown he faced an immediate risk of serious physical injury when he filed this case. The court therefore granted defendants’ motion to revoke his fee-waiver status and required him to pay the full $350 filing fee within 28 days. If he does not pay, the case will be dismissed without prejudice to bringing the claims in a new case after paying the fee.
Judge Jeffrey White denied Johnson’s motion for summary judgment as premature. The order said Johnson may file the motion again, or notify the court that he wants to revive it, after paying the filing fee.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. Rosalez · No. 4:22-cv-04091
- Jeffrey White
- Jan. 12, 2023
Background
Paul David Johnson, an inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison, brought this civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that the defendants retaliated against him because of his earlier lawsuits. Johnson had previously received permission to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning he could proceed without paying the filing fee at the start of the case. He also filed a motion for summary judgment, which asks the court to decide a claim without a trial when there is no genuine dispute over important facts.
Three-strikes rule
The Prison Litigation Reform Act generally prevents a prisoner from proceeding without paying the filing fee if the prisoner has, on three or more prior occasions while incarcerated or detained, brought a federal action or appeal that was dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim. This restriction does not apply if the prisoner was in imminent danger of serious physical injury when the case was filed.
The court stated that it was undisputed that Johnson had at least three qualifying dismissals, known as “strikes.” The court assessed the imminent-danger exception as of the time Johnson filed this case. It found that Johnson had not alleged a serious illness, an imminent physical threat, or facts showing continuing sexual harassment or another physical danger at that time. The court noted that his allegation that A. Cuevas sexually harassed him during a clothed body search involved one incident in December 2021, about seven months before he filed the complaint.
Rulings
The court granted defendants’ motion to revoke Johnson’s permission to proceed in forma pauperis. It ordered Johnson to pay the full $350 filing fee within 28 days after the order was filed. The order states that failure to pay will result in dismissal of the case without prejudice to Johnson bringing his claims in a new civil-rights case in which he pays the filing fee.
The court denied Johnson’s motion for summary judgment as premature. It stated that Johnson may re-file the motion, or notify the court that he wishes to revive it, after paying the filing fee. The order addressed the filing-fee issue and the timing of the summary-judgment motion; it did not decide the merits of Johnson’s retaliation claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.