Conseillant v. William

Background

Frantz D. Conseillant filed this action without a lawyer while detained at a correctional center on Rikers Island. The court had previously allowed him to proceed without paying the filing fee, a status commonly called proceeding without prepaying fees.

Three-strikes finding

The Prison Litigation Reform Act generally bars a prisoner from proceeding without prepaying fees in a federal civil action after three or more earlier actions or appeals were dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim, unless the prisoner faced an immediate danger of serious physical injury. The court found that Conseillant had three qualifying prior dismissals in earlier related proceedings. The court therefore found that the filing bar applied to him while he was a prisoner.

The court also determined that the present complaint did not allege facts showing an immediate danger of serious physical injury. The court described the complaint as largely incomprehensible and said it appeared to consist of dates and biblical references. It found no facts supporting the exception to the filing bar.

Notice and possible disposition

Because courts generally provide people proceeding without lawyers notice and an opportunity to respond before taking an action harmful to their interests, the court did not immediately revoke Conseillant’s fee waiver. Instead, it ordered him to show cause within 30 days, by declaration, why the court should not revoke the order granting him that status under the three-strikes provision.

If Conseillant does not show cause or does not respond, the court said it will treat him as subject to the filing bar, revoke the order granting his fee waiver, and dismiss this action without prejudice. The order itself directs only a response to the show-cause order; it does not state that the action was already dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for purposes of an appeal from this order.