Bonilla v. Lee

Background

Steven Wayne Bonilla, a state prisoner sentenced to death, filed multiple civil-rights complaints under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 while representing himself. The order covers the case number listed above and numerous other case numbers listed in the caption. The complaints were nearly identical and named various federal and state judges and county officials as defendants.

Bonilla sought relief concerning his underlying conviction and the way his other state and federal court cases had been handled. The order also states that he had a pending federal petition challenging his detention with appointed counsel and was represented by counsel in state proceedings challenging his detention.

Court’s Analysis

The court stated that Bonilla had previously been disqualified from proceeding without paying the filing fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). That provision generally prevents a prisoner with qualifying prior dismissals from proceeding without paying unless the complaint shows that the prisoner was in imminent danger of serious physical injury when the complaint was filed.

The court found that Bonilla’s allegations did not show imminent danger at the relevant time. It therefore ruled that he could not proceed without paying the filing fee. The court added that, even if an application to proceed without paying the fee were granted, the lawsuits would still be barred under the legal rules identified in Heck v. Humphrey, Younger v. Harris, Demos v. U.S. District Court, and Mullis v. U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Disposition

The court dismissed the cases with prejudice. It ordered the clerk to terminate all pending motions and close the cases, and to return without filing any further documents Bonilla submitted in those closed cases. Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton also addressed whether the repetitive filings created a reasonable question about her impartiality and concluded that these were not cases requiring recusal.