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SUMMARY JUDGMENT LOSS NOT A ‘STRIKE’

A prisoner unable to pay court fees may proceed in forma pauperis, that is, without prepaying fees. The Prison Litigation Reform Act, however, bars a prisoner from proceeding in forma pauperis if he or she has brought three or more actions or appeals in a federal court that were dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failing to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. This is called the “three-strikes rule.”

Jeremy Wells had filed three prior actions against state prison officials. One was dismissed for failing to state a claim.  A second was dismissed for failure to exhaust remedies, and the third was denied on summary judgment for the same reason. When he filed a new case, he was denied in forma pauperis status under the “three strikes rule.”

Last week, the 11th Circuit allowed Jeremy to proceed in forma pauperis. “Summary judgment based on evidence outside the face of the complaint or on something other than the allegations in the complaint is not a dismissal for failure to state a claim,” the Circuit ruled. “A complaint is subject to dismissal for failure to state a claim if the allegations, taken as true, show the plaintiff is not entitled to relief. Summary judgment, on the other hand, asks whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.”

Wells v. Brown, Case No 21-10550, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 2582 (11th Cir., February 1, 2023)

– Thomas L. Root