Jackson v. Simon

Background

Tony Dejuan Jackson, a prisoner, filed this action against Steve Simon, Minnesota’s Secretary of State, and Paul Schnell, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Jackson asked to proceed in the case without paying the filing fee upfront under the federal law allowing people unable to pay court fees to proceed without prepayment.

The complaint seeks restoration of Jackson’s voting rights during his term of imprisonment. The court considered only Jackson’s application to proceed without prepayment of the filing fee.

Court’s analysis

The court explained that the federal prisoner-filing law limits when a prisoner may proceed without prepaying the filing fee. Under that law, a prisoner may not proceed without prepayment after three or more earlier federal actions or appeals were dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim, unless the prisoner is in immediate danger of serious physical injury. Prisoners who qualify to proceed without prepayment still generally pay the filing fee in installments rather than receiving a full waiver.

The court found that Jackson had repeatedly been determined to have at least three qualifying strikes. It agreed with the analysis in the earlier cases it cited and found that Jackson had therefore accumulated three strikes for purposes of the statute. The court also found that Jackson’s complaint did not establish the required immediate danger because the claims concerned voting rights, not the allegedly toxic conditions of confinement mentioned elsewhere in the complaint. The court noted that the alleged danger must be connected to the legal claims in the complaint.

Ruling

Judge Tony N. Leung denied Jackson’s application to proceed without prepaying the filing fee. The order required Jackson to pay the full $402 filing fee by December 30, 2022. If he did not pay by that date, the court stated that it would recommend dismissing the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The order also stated that, even if Jackson paid the fee, the complaint would still be reviewed under the federal prisoner-screening statute to determine whether it states a claim on which relief can be granted.