Jean-Louis v. Board of Education

Background

Joe W. Jean-Louis brought this action while detained at the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island. He represented himself. Because he did not pay the $405 filing fee, the court treated the complaint as including a request to proceed without paying the fee, commonly called proceeding in forma pauperis.

The opinion says Jean-Louis appeared to assert claims against the New York City Department of Education based on alleged negligence in failing to build underground nuclear fallout shelters in the City’s elementary schools.

Three-strikes filing bar

The Prison Litigation Reform Act’s three-strikes provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), generally prevents a prisoner from bringing 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 for failing to state a claim. An exception applies if the prisoner is under an imminent danger of serious physical injury.

The court relied on earlier related proceedings that recognized Jean-Louis as subject to this filing bar and listed his qualifying dismissals. The court found that the present complaint did not show an imminent danger of serious physical injury. The opinion explains that the danger must exist when the complaint is filed; a danger that has already ended is not enough.

Disposition

The court denied Jean-Louis’s request to proceed without paying the filing fee and dismissed the complaint without prejudice under the three-strikes provision. The dismissal without prejudice means the opinion did not bar him from starting a new federal civil action by paying the required filing fees. Any new complaint would still be subject to the prisoner-complaint screening requirements described in the opinion.

The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied fee-free status for an appeal. It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment. Jean-Louis remains barred from filing future federal civil actions without paying the filing fee while he is a prisoner unless he shows an imminent threat of serious physical injury.