Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-04753/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-04753-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Steven Wayne Bonilla
Petitioner
California Appellate Project
Respondent
California Supreme Court
Respondent
David Nickerson
Respondent

Document Text:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

STEVEN WAYNE BONILLA,

Plaintiff,

v.

CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 16-cv-04753-VC (PR)

ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH 

PREJUDICE

Plaintiff Steven Wayne Bonilla is a state prisoner who has filed a pro se complaint under 

the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, and the California Public Records 

Act (“CPRA”), Cal. Gov. Code § 6250 et seq., against the California Supreme Court, the 

California Appellate Project and David Nickerson.1 Bonilla has been disqualified from 

proceeding in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) unless he is “under imminent danger of 

serious physical injury” at the time he filed his complaint. 28 U.S.C. 1915(g); In re Steven 

Bonilla, No. C 11-3180 CW (PR); Bonilla v. Dawson, No. C 13-0951 CW (PR). 

The allegations in this complaint do not show that Bonilla was in imminent danger at the 

time of filing. Therefore, he may not proceed in forma pauperis. Furthermore, he may not 

proceed even if he pays the filing fee because FOIA applies only to agencies of the executive 

branch of the federal government, not to the defendants. See St. Michael’s Convalescent Hosp. 

v. California, 643 F.2d 1369, 1373 (9th Cir. 1981). Likewise, the CPRA does not apply to the 

defendants because it only applies to state agencies. See California State Univ. v. Sup. Ct., 90 

Cal. App. 4th 810, 822 (2001). The judiciary is not a state agency within the meaning of the 

 

1

This civil case was incorrectly labelled on the Court docket as a petition for a writ of 

mandamus. The Clerk is directed to correct this error. 

Case 3:16-cv-04753-VC Document 3 Filed 09/01/16 Page 1 of 2
2

CPRA. See id. at n.5. The California Appellate Project is not a state agency; it is a non-profit 

corporation that assists private counsel appointed by the California Supreme Court to represent 

indigent defendants in capital cases on direct appeal and habeas corpus proceedings. See

www.capsf.org/About-CAPSF.asp Finally, David Nickerson is not a state agency; he is 

identified in the complaint as an attorney.

Furthermore, the relief Plaintiff seeks pertains to his ongoing attempts to invalidate his 

conviction. Therefore, such claims, if raised, must be brought by Bonilla’s counsel in his 

pending federal habeas corpus action, Bonilla v. Ayers, No. C 08-0471 YGR (PR).

Accordingly, this complaint is dismissed with prejudice. The Clerk of the Court shall 

enter a separate judgment and close the file. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated:

______________________________________

VINCE CHHABRIA

United States District Judge

September 1, 2016

Case 3:16-cv-04753-VC Document 3 Filed 09/01/16 Page 2 of 2