Bonilla v. Marin County Superior Court

Background

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

The opinion also states that Bonilla had a pending federal petition challenging his custody in the same court, with appointed counsel, and was represented by counsel in state-court proceedings.

Court’s Analysis

Bonilla had previously been disqualified from proceeding without paying filing fees under the prisoner three-strikes provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), unless he showed that he faced imminent danger of serious physical injury when he filed the complaints. The court found that the allegations did not show such danger, so Bonilla could not proceed without paying the fees.

The court further stated that, even if an application to proceed without paying fees were granted, the lawsuits would be barred under the legal rules cited in the opinion, including rules concerning challenges to criminal convictions, interference with ongoing proceedings, and challenges to decisions by other courts. The court also rejected any basis for questioning the assigned judge’s impartiality based on the repetitive and frivolous nature of the filings.

Disposition

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

Classification

This is a procedural order. The court disposed of the cases based on the filing-fee restriction and other threshold or court-interference rules rather than deciding the underlying civil-rights allegations.