Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ared-3_20-cv-00052/USCOURTS-ared-3_20-cv-00052-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 555
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Prison Condition
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS 

NORTHERN DIVISION 

PHILLIP DEWAYNE STEWART PLAINTIFF 

ADC #151956 

v. No: 3:20-cv-00052 KGB-PSH 

M. BREWER DEFENDANT 

PROPOSED FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION 

INSTRUCTIONS 

 The following proposed Recommendation has been sent to United States 

District Judge Kristine G. Baker. You may file written objections to all or part of 

this Recommendation. If you do so, those objections must: (1) specifically explain 

the factual and/or legal basis for your objection, and (2) be received by the Clerk of 

this Court within fourteen (14) days of this Recommendation. By not objecting, you 

may waive the right to appeal questions of fact. 

DISPOSITION 

 Plaintiff Phillip Dewayne Stewart filed a complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 

1983 on February 10, 2020. Doc. No. 1. He filed an application to proceed in forma 

pauperis on February 19, 2020. Doc. No. 3. Stewart is an inmate at the North 

Central Unit in the Arkansas Department of Correction. He is a three-striker under 

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the three-strikes provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”). The 

three-strikes provision requires the court to dismiss a prisoner’s in forma pauperis

action at any time, sua sponte or upon a motion of a party, if it determines that 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) (emphasis added). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth 

Circuit has explicitly upheld the constitutionality of the three-strikes provision. See 

Higgins v. Carpenter, 258 F.3d 797 (8th Cir. 2001). 

 Stewart has more than three strikes. Records in the office of the Clerk of 

Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas reveal that Stewart has strikes in the 

following cases: Stewart v. Hobbs, et al., No. 5:13-cv-00381-JLH (E.D. Ark.);

Stewart v. Evans, No. 5:16-cv-00081-DPM (E.D. Ark.); Stewart v. Griffen, et al., 

No. 4:17-cv-00579-BRW (E.D. Ark.); Stewart v. Hobbs, et al., No. 6:15-cv-6023 

(W.D. Ark.); and Stewart v. Murphy, et al., No. 6:14-cv-6077 (W.D. Ark.). As a 

three-striker, Stewart must show that he was in imminent danger of serious physical 

injury at the time he filed the complaint in order to proceed in forma pauperis. 28 

U.S.C. § 1915(g); Ashley v. Dilworth, 147 F.3d 715, 717 (8th Cir. 1998). The Eighth 

Circuit has clarified that the imminent danger exception applies only when there is 

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a genuine risk of an “ongoing serious physical injury.” Martin v. Shelton, 319 F.3d 

1048, 1050 (8th Cir. 2003). 

 Stewart alleges that Law Library Supervisor M. Brewer failed to protect his 

privacy by informing another inmate that she had given Stewart certain information. 

Doc. No. 1 at 4 & 6. Stewart indicates that Brewer’s disclosure may put him at harm 

or cause him to be attacked, but he does not explain why. He expresses a general 

fear that future library requests made by him could be revealed to other inmates and 

put him in danger. Stewart’s general fear and speculation do not demonstrate that 

he is in imminent danger of serious physical injury or at genuine risk of an ongoing 

physical injury. Accordingly, he may not proceed in this case in forma pauperis. 

 IT IS THEREFORE RECOMMENDED THAT: 

 1. Stewart’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. No. 3) 

be DENIED, and this case be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. 

 2. Stewart be given thirty days to reopen the case by paying the $400 filing 

and administrative fees in full and filing a Motion to Reopen. 

 DATED this 20th day of February, 2020. 

 

 

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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