Reported / Citable
Background
Donald Wayne Ingle Jr., a Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmate housed at the Clements Unit, brought a civil-rights action against Fernando Martinez and others. He did not pay the filing fee.
The magistrate judge found that Ingle had at least three prior federal actions dismissed as frivolous or for failure to state a claim: Ingle v. Franklin, Ingle v. Pace, and Ingle v. Butler. The complaint also did not allege that Ingle faced imminent danger of serious physical injury.
The Court’s Holding
The magistrate judge recommended dismissing the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s three-strikes provision. That statute bars a prisoner with three qualifying prior dismissals from proceeding in forma pauperis unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.
Because Ingle had three qualifying strikes, had not paid the filing fee, and did not fall within the imminent-danger exception, the magistrate judge recommended dismissal. The recommendation would allow Ingle to seek reopening within 30 days after final judgment by paying the $402 filing and administrative fees and filing a motion to reopen.
Key Takeaways
- This was a recommendation to dismiss, not a final district-court dismissal.
- Three prior frivolous or failure-to-state-a-claim dismissals triggered the § 1915(g) bar.
- The complaint did not allege imminent danger sufficient to invoke the statutory exception.
Why It Matters
The recommendation illustrates the PLRA’s filing-fee restriction for repeat prisoner litigants. A prisoner subject to the three-strikes bar must prepay the required fees unless the complaint plausibly alleges imminent danger of serious physical injury at the time of filing.