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TRUJILLO v. SAVOIE (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-04-27No. No. 19-17432

Summary

Holding. The court reversed the district court's dismissal and remanded the case, concluding that the prisoner plausibly alleged imminent danger of serious physical injury and therefore qualified for the imminent danger exception to the three-strikes provision.

A California state prisoner appealed the dismissal of his federal civil rights lawsuit after the district court denied his request to proceed without paying filing fees. The district court relied on the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act's "three strikes" rule, which generally bars indigent prisoners from filing lawsuits for free. However, the rule contains an exception when a prisoner faces imminent danger of serious physical injury. The appellate court examined the prisoner's complaint and found that he had adequately alleged such danger—specifically, that another inmate might harm him in retaliation for a falsified misconduct report allegedly filed by a corrections official.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Application of the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act's three-strikes bar to in forma pauperis filings
  • Whether a prisoner adequately pleads imminent danger of serious physical injury
  • Standard for construing a prisoner's allegations of danger in civil rights complaints

Procedural posture

The prisoner appealed pro se from a district court judgment dismissing his § 1983 complaint for failure to pay filing fees.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

California state prisoner Guillermo Cruz Trujillo appeals pro se from the district courts judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for failure to pay the filing fee after denying Trujillos motion to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo the district courts interpretation and application of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1052 (9th Cir. 2007). We reverse and remand.

The district court determined that the Prisoner Litigation Reform Acts “three strikes” provision barred Trujillo from proceeding IFP because Trujillo did not plausibly allege that he was “under imminent danger of serious physical injury” at the time he lodged the complaint. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). However, a review of the record demonstrates that Trujillo plausibly alleged that he faced imminent danger of serious physical injury from other inmates due to defendant Savoies allegedly falsified report of Trujillos sexual misconduct. See Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1190 (9th Cir. 2015) (court should liberally construe a prisoners “facial allegations” and determine if the complaint “makes a plausible allegation” of imminent danger); see also Andrews, 493 F.3d at 1055 (discussing the imminent danger exception to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g)).

REVERSED and REMANDED.