Faison v. Sperling

          ORDER

          G. Murray Enow, Chief United States District Judge.

         On June 25, 2018, Plaintiff Matthew Levi Faison, ^[1] who is confined in the Blackwater River Correctional Facility in Milton, Florida, filed a pro se Complaint (Doc. 1), which the Clerk of Court filed as a civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In a July 16, 2018 Order (Doc. 5), the Court dismissed the complaint as deficient and gave Plaintiff 30 days to file an amended complaint and to either pay the filing and administrative fees or file a complete Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis.

         On August 10, 2018, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint (Doc. 6) and an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Doc. 8). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), the Court will deny the Application to Proceed and will dismiss the First Amended Complaint and this action without prejudice.

         I. Dismissal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g)

         The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA), enacted on April 26, 1996, provides that a prisoner may not bring a civil action or appeal a civil judgment in forma pauperis (“IFP”) if:

the prisoner has, on 3 or more prior occasions, while incarcerated or detained in any facility, brought an action or appeal in a court of the United States that was dismissed on the grounds that it is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.

28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). This is “commonly known as the ‘three strikes' provision.” Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1116 n. 1 (9th Cir. 2005).

         A. Three Strikes

         “[I]n determining a § 1915(g) ‘strike,' the reviewing court looks to the dismissing court's action and the reasons underlying it.” Knapp v. Hogan, 738 F.3d 1106, 1109 (9th Cir. 2013). “In some instances, the district court docket records may be sufficient to show that a prior dismissal satisfies at least one of the criteria under § 1915(g) and therefore counts as a strike.” Andrews, 398 F.3d at 1120. “[T]he style of the dismissal or the procedural posture is immaterial. Instead, the central question is whether the dismissal ‘rang the PLRA bells of frivolous, malicious, or failure to state a claim.'” Harris v. Mangum, 863 F.3d 1133, 1142 (9th Cir. 2017) (quoting El-Shaddai v. Zamora, 833 F.3d 1036, 1042 (9th Cir. 2016)). See Knapp, 738 F.3d at 1110 (dismissal of appeal as “‘not taken in good faith, '… has been held to be equivalent to a finding of frivolity” and counts as strike); O'Neal v. Price, 531 F.3d 1146, 1154 (9th Cir. 2008) (section 1915(g) does “not distinguish between dismissals with and without prejudice”).

         As an initial matter, the Court takes judicial notice of the following actions and appeals in which Plaintiff has been previously barred under § 1915(g) from proceeding in federal court:

Matthew v. BOFA Suntrust (Matthew Levi Faison), No. 2:14-cv-04523-UA-PLA (C.D. Cal. Jun. 20, 2014) (dismissed pursuant to § 1915(g)).

Faison v. Brown (Matthew Leo Faison), No. 3:03-cv-00053-RWN (M.D. Fla. Jan. 28, 2003) (dismissed pursuant to § 1915(g)).

Faison v. Jergen (Matteo Leon Faison), No. 3:03-cv-00135-HES (M.D. Fla. Mar. 7, 2003) (dismissed pursuant to § 1915(g)).

Faison v. Office of Executive Clemency Board (Matthew Faison, Jr.), No. 3:12-cv-00319-BJD-JBT (M.D. Fla. Mar. 29, 2012) (dismissed pursuant to § 1915(g)).

Faison v. Guerra (Maestro Matthew Faison), No. 3:04-cv-00027-RV-MD, 2004 WL 758283 (N.D. Fla. Mar. 15, 2004) (adopting report and recommendation to dismiss pursuant to § 1915(g)).

Faison v. Guerra (Matthew Levi Faison), No. 3:04-cv-00069-RV-MD (N.D. Fla. Apr. 26, 2004) (adopting report and recommendation to dismiss under § 1915(g)).

Faison v. U.S. Att'y Gen. (Matthew Faison, Jr.), No. 5:09-cv-00404-RS-AK (N.D. Fla. Mar. 9, 2010) (adopting report and recommendation to dismiss action under § 1915(g)).

Faison v. Guerra (Matthew Leo Faison, aka Matthew Leo Jackson Faison, aka Leo Jackson Faison), No. 3:18-cv-000158-MCR-EMT, 2018 WL 1157561, at *1 (N.D. Fla. Feb. 16, 2018) (report and recommendation to dismiss action under § 1915(g)) adopted by Faison Guerra, No. ...