Burns v. Sabrina

Background

George Burns, who was incarcerated at Westchester County Jail, filed this action without a lawyer. He had not prepaid the filing fee and asked to proceed without paying it. The complaint named Nicole Sabrina, identified in the caption as a Legal Aid Society of Westchester attorney, and alleged that she failed to protect Burns’s rights. Burns sought compensatory and punitive damages, declaratory relief, and injunctive relief.

Three-strikes rule

The Prison Litigation Reform Act provides that a prisoner may not bring a federal civil action without paying the filing fee if, on three or more prior occasions while incarcerated or detained, the prisoner brought an action or appeal that was dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or failing to state a claim, unless the prisoner faces an imminent danger of serious physical injury. The court relied on an earlier order stating that Burns was barred from filing new actions without paying the filing fee while he was a prisoner.

The court concluded that Burns’s complaint did not show an imminent danger of serious physical injury. The court therefore held that the three-strikes rule barred Burns from proceeding without paying the filing fee.

Ruling

Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Burns’s request to proceed without paying the filing fee and dismissed the complaint without prejudice under the three-strikes rule. The order states that Burns may start a new action by paying the filing fee; any such complaint would then be reviewed under the statutory screening requirement for prisoner civil-rights complaints. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Burns permission to appeal without paying fees. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment.

The order resolved the filing-fee issue and the case’s disposition without deciding whether Burns’s allegations against Sabrina stated a valid underlying claim.