Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-00270/USCOURTS-casd-3_19-cv-00270-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983pr Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

ZURI SANA-KABISA YOUNG, 

CDCR #J-03193, 

Plaintiff,

v. 

THOMAS MOORE, C/O R. CASAS; J. 

DURAN; J. ARELLANO; J. SALINAS; 

CAPT. P. BRACAMONTE; PATRICK 

COVELLO, 

Defendants.

 Case No.: 3:19-cv-00270-MMA-KSC 

ORDER: 

(1) DENYING MOTION TO 

PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 

AS BARRED BY 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g); 

AND 

(2) DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR 

FAILURE TO PAY FILING FEE 

REQUIRED BY 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); 

 Plaintiff Zuri Sana-Kabisa Young, a state inmate currently incarcerated at the 

California State Prison - Los Angeles County, located in Lancaster, California, filed a 

civil rights Complaint (“Compl.”) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc. No. 1.) In 

addition, Plaintiff has filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”). (Doc. No. 

5.) 

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I. Motion to Proceed IFP

 “All persons, not just prisoners, may seek IFP status.” Moore v. Maricopa County 

Sheriff’s Office, 657 F.3d 890, 892 (9th Cir. 2011). “Prisoners” like Plaintiff, however, 

“face an additional hurdle.” Id. In addition to requiring prisoners to “pay the full amount 

of a filing fee,” in “increments” as provided by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3)(b), Williams v. 

Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2015), the Prison Litigation Reform Act 

(“PLRA”) amended section 1915 to preclude the privilege to proceed IFP: 

. . . if [a] 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 can be granted, unless the prisoner is 

under imminent danger of serious physical injury. 

28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). “This subdivision is commonly known as the ‘three strikes’ 

provision.” Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d 1113, 1116 n.1 (9th Cir. 2005) (hereafter 

“Andrews”). 

 “Pursuant to § 1915(g), a prisoner with three strikes or more cannot proceed IFP.” 

Id.; see also Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1052 (9th Cir. 2007) (hereafter 

“Cervantes”) (under the PLRA, “[p]risoners who have repeatedly brought unsuccessful 

suits may entirely be barred from IFP status under the three strikes rule[.]”). The 

objective of the PLRA is to further “the congressional goal of reducing frivolous prisoner 

litigation in federal court.” Tierney v. Kupers, 128 F.3d 1310, 1312 (9th Cir. 1997). 

“[S]ection 1915(g)’s cap on prior dismissed claims applies to claims dismissed both 

before and after the statute’s effective date.” Id. at 1311. 

 “Strikes are prior cases or appeals, brought while the plaintiff was a prisoner, 

which were dismissed on the ground that they were frivolous, malicious, or failed to state 

a claim,” Andrews, 398 F.3d at 1116 n.1 (internal quotations omitted), “even if the 

district court styles such dismissal as a denial of the prisoner’s application to file the 

action without prepayment of the full filing fee.” O’Neal v. Price, 531 F.3d 1146, 1153 

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(9th Cir. 2008). Once a prisoner has accumulated three strikes, he is prohibited by 

section 1915(g) from pursuing any other IFP action in federal court unless he can show 

he is facing “imminent danger of serious physical injury.” See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g); 

Cervantes, 493 F.3d at 1051-52 (noting § 1915(g)’s exception for IFP complaints which 

“make[] a plausible allegation that the prisoner faced ‘imminent danger of serious 

physical injury’ at the time of filing.”). 

II. Application to Plaintiff 

 As an initial matter, the Court has carefully reviewed Plaintiff’s Complaint and has 

ascertained that it does not contain “plausible allegations” which suggest he “faced 

‘imminent danger of serious physical injury’ at the time of filing.” Cervantes, 493 F.3d 

at 1055 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g)). 

A court “‘may take notice of proceedings in other courts, both within and without 

the federal judicial system, if those proceedings have a direct relation to matters at 

issue.’” Bias v. Moynihan, 508 F.3d 1212, 1225 (9th Cir. 2007) (quoting Bennett v. 

Medtronic, Inc., 285 F.3d 801, 803 n.2 (9th Cir. 2002)); see also United States ex rel. 

Robinson Rancheria Citizens Council v. Borneo, Inc., 971 F.2d 244, 248 (9th Cir. 1992). 

 Thus, this Court takes judicial notice that Plaintiff, while incarcerated, has brought 

at least three prior civil actions which have been dismissed on the grounds that they were 

frivolous, malicious, or failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See 28 

U.S.C. § 1915(g). These actions include: 

 1) Young v. State of California, et al., Civil Case No. 2:99-cv-01039-DFL-JFM 

(E.D. Cal. Oct. 7, 1999) (Order Adopting Findings and Recommendations dismissing 

complaint for failing to state a claim) (strike one); 

2) Young v. United States Gov’t., et al., Civil Case No. 2:02-cv-02940-RT-E 

(C.D. Cal. Oct. 15, 2002) (Order Accepting and Adopting Report and Recommendation 

for failing to state a claim and as frivolous) (strike two); 

 3) Young v. Sumptner, et al., Civil Case No. 2:05-cv-03653-CBM-E (C.D. Cal. 

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Oct. 4, 2005) (Order Dismissing Complaint for failing to state a claim) (strike three)1

. 

 Accordingly, because Plaintiff has, while incarcerated, accumulated at least the 

three “strikes” permitted pursuant to § 1915(g), and he fails to make a “plausible 

allegation” that he faced imminent danger of serious physical injury at the time he filed 

his Complaint, he is not entitled to the privilege of proceeding IFP in this action. See 

Cervantes, 493 F.3d at 1055; Rodriguez, 169 F.3d at 1180 (finding that 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1915(g) “does not prevent all prisoners from accessing the courts; it only precludes 

prisoners with a history of abusing the legal system from continuing to abuse it while 

enjoying IFP status”); see also Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1231 (9th Cir. 1984) 

(“[C]ourt permission to proceed IFP is itself a matter of privilege and not right.”). 

III. Conclusion and Order 

For the reasons discussed, the Court:

1) DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed IFP (Doc. No. 5) as barred by 28

U.S.C. § 1915(g); 

2) DISMISSES this civil action without prejudice for failure to pay the full 

statutory and administrative $400 civil filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); 

3) CERTIFIES that an IFP appeal from this Order would be frivolous and 

therefore, would not be taken in good faith pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3); and 

4) DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to enter judgment and close the file. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATE: March 4, 2019 _______________________________________ 

 HON. MICHAEL M. ANELLO 

 United States District Judge 

                                                                

1 See Harris v. Mangum, 863 F.3d 1133, 1143 (9th Cir. 2017) (“A prisoner may not avoid 

incurring strikes simply by declining to take advantage of [an] opportunity to amend.”). 

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