PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

GEORGE SAMUEL GREEN, JR., 

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

STANLEY K. YOUNG; SYED Z. AHSAN,  No. 04-7252

Psychiatrist; DAVID JONES,

Psychologist; KIMBERLY ANN BAYS,

Mental Health Supervisor/WRSP,

Defendants-Appellees. 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Virginia, at Roanoke.

James C. Turk, Senior District Judge.

(CA-03-722-7)

Argued: May 26, 2006

Decided: July 26, 2006

Before NIEMEYER and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and

Joseph R. GOODWIN, United States District Judge for the

Southern District of West Virginia, sitting by designation.

Motion granted by published opinion. Judge Traxler wrote the opinion, in which Judge Niemeyer and Judge Goodwin joined. 

COUNSEL

ARGUED: Joseph McMullen, Third Year Law Student, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF LAW, Appellate Litigation
Clinic, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellant. Richard Carson

Vorhis, Assistant Attorney General, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY

GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees. ON

BRIEF: Neal L. Walters, Kimberly Mattingly, Third Year Law Students, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF LAW, Appellate

Litigation Clinic, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellant. Robert F.

McDonnell, Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee

Stanley K. Young; Rosalie P. Fessier, TIMBERLAKE, SMITH,

THOMAS & MOSES, P.C., Staunton, Virginia, for Appellees Syed

Z. Ahsan, Psychiatrist, David Jones, Psychologist, and Kimberly Ann

Bays, Mental Health Supervisor/WRSP.

OPINION

TRAXLER, Circuit Judge: 

In 1996, Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act (the

"PLRA" or the "Act"), Pub. L. No. 104-134, §§ 801-810, 110 Stat.

1321 (1995), to address concerns about the "ever-growing number of

prison-condition lawsuits that were threatening to overwhelm the

capacity of the federal judiciary." Anderson v. XYZ Correctional

Health Servs., Inc., 407 F.3d 674, 676 (4th Cir. 2005). The PLRA

imposes some rather substantial limitations on a prisoner’s ability to

initiate a civil action. Of particular importance to this case is the

requirement that prisoners exhaust administrative remedies within the

prison before filing a civil action, see 42 U.S.C.A. § 1997e(a) (West

2003), and the Act’s "three strikes" provision, which prohibits a prisoner who has filed three previous suits that were dismissed on specified grounds from proceeding in forma pauperis in subsequent suits.

See 28 U.S.C.A. § 1915(g) (West Supp. 2005). The question before

us is whether a routine dismissal for failure to exhaust administrative

remedies counts as a "strike" for purposes of § 1915(g). Building on

our decision in Anderson, where we concluded that a prisoner is not

required to allege in his complaint that he has exhausted his administrative remedies, we answer that question in the negative. 

2 GREEN v. YOUNG
I.

A.

To accomplish its goal of reducing the number of frivolous lawsuits, the PLRA placed three major hurdles in the path of prisoners

seeking to challenge the conditions of their confinement. First, the

PLRA requires prisoners to exhaust all administrative remedies before

bringing suit. See 42 U.S.C.A. § 1997e(a) ("No action shall be

brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this

title, or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail,

prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted."). Second, the Act imposes on district courts an obligation to screen prisoner complaints promptly after

filing (preferably, before the case has been docketed) and to dismiss

meritless cases. See 28 U.S.C.A. § 1915A(a) (West Supp. 2005)

("The court shall review, before docketing, if feasible or, in any event,

as soon as practicable after docketing, a complaint in a civil action in

which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer

or employee of a governmental entity."); id. § 1915A(b) ("On review,

the court shall identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or

any portion of the complaint, if the complaint — (1) is frivolous,

malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted;

or (2) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from

such relief."). Finally, the Act imposes greater financial obligations

on prisoners who turn to the courts for relief. Prior to the enactment

of the PLRA, prisoners were able to use the in forma pauperis statute

to avoid paying filing fees. See Nagy v. FMC Butner, 376 F.3d 252,

255-56 (4th Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 973 (2005). The PLRA,

however, requires prisoners to pay all filing fees without regard to

their financial status, although they may pay the fees in installments.

See 28 U.S.C.A. § 1915(b) (West Supp. 2005). In addition, the PLRA

requires pre-payment in full of all filing fees if the plaintiff-prisoner

has had three prior cases dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim for which relief may be granted, unless the prisoner is at imminent risk of serious physical injury. See 28 U.S.C.A.

§ 1915(g) ("In no event shall a prisoner bring a civil action or appeal

a judgment in a civil action or proceeding under this section if 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

GREEN v. YOUNG 3
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."). 

B.

George Samuel Green, a prisoner within the meaning of the PLRA,

filed an action under 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 against various Virginia

prison officials, alleging that they were deliberately indifferent to his

serious medical needs. The district court permitted Green to proceed

without prepayment of fees, but the court later dismissed Green’s

complaint on the merits. Green then filed a pro se notice of appeal

and filed with this court a motion to proceed without prepayment of

fees. There is no dispute that the dismissals of two of Green’s prior

actions are properly counted as strikes under § 1915(g). A third PLRA

action initiated by Green was dismissed on exhaustion grounds. If

such a dismissal counts as a strike under § 1915(g), then Green would

have three strikes and would not be entitled to pay in installments the

fees associated with this appeal. Because the issue is one of first

impression in this circuit, we appointed counsel for Green and placed

his motion on the oral argument calendar. 

II.

As noted above, 28 U.S.C.A. § 1915(g), the PLRA’s three-strikes

provision, requires prepayment in full of all filing fees if on at least

three prior occasions the prisoner has had an action 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.A. § 1915(g). Although

§ 1915(g) does not mention a dismissal for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, the Commonwealth contends that a dismissal on

exhaustion grounds should be viewed as the equivalent of a dismissal

on grounds of frivolousness. The Commonwealth notes that exhaustion is mandatory, see Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 524 (2002), and

a critical component of the PLRA, and the Commonwealth argues

that it would seriously undermine the purposes of the Act to conclude

that a dismissal on exhaustion grounds is not a strike. We disagree.

4 GREEN v. YOUNG
Whether a dismissal for failure to exhaust administrative remedies

constitutes a strike under the PLRA is, of course, a matter of statutory

construction. The first step in such a task "is to determine whether the

language at issue has a plain and unambiguous meaning." Robinson

v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337, 340 (1997). We cannot determine

whether a statute has a plain and unambiguous meaning by looking

at the language in isolation. Instead, we must consider "the language

itself, the specific context in which that language is used, and the

broader context of the statute as a whole." Id. at 341; see also Salomon Forex, Inc. v. Tauber, 8 F.3d 966, 975 (4th Cir. 1993) ("The

interpretive process is . . . a holistic endeavor to derive intent from

statutory language and structures."). When the PLRA is considered as

a whole, we have no difficulty concluding that a routine dismissal for

failure to exhaust administrative remedies does not amount to a strike.

Before the PLRA was enacted, no exhaustion requirement applied

to § 1983 actions. See Patsy v. Board of Regents, 457 U.S. 496, 516

(1982); Anderson, 407 F.3d at 676. By imposing an exhaustion

requirement on actions by prisoners challenging the conditions of

their confinement, Congress clearly viewed exhaustion as an important part of its efforts to curb the number of frivolous lawsuits brought

by prisoners. Nonetheless, when Congress enacted the PLRA, it

treated the failure to exhaust as distinct from frivolousness or the failure to state a claim. 

As noted above, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1997e(a) sets out the PLRA’s

exhaustion requirement. Just a few printed lines below the exhaustion

requirement, in a different subsection, the Act provides for dismissal

of any action that "is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon

which relief can be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant

who is immune from such relief." 42 U.S.C.A. § 1997e(c)(1) (West

2003). In addition, § 1997e(c)(2) provides that if a claim is "on its

face, frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief can

be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune

from such relief, the court may dismiss the underlying claim without

first requiring the exhaustion of administrative remedies." 42

U.S.C.A. § 1997e(c)(2). 

Analyzing these same provisions, we concluded in Anderson that

Congress’s leaving out references to exhaustion in some but not all

GREEN v. YOUNG 5
of the subsections of § 1997e must be viewed as "intentional congressional omission[s]," Anderson, 407 F.3d at 680, such that it would be

improper to read the PLRA as authorizing sua sponte dismissal of a

claim on exhaustion grounds:

Congress had not forgotten about the need for exhaustion,

but chose not to include failure to exhaust among the

grounds for which the court could dismiss sua sponte. Inasmuch as the omission of failure to exhaust from the categories explicitly permitting sua sponte dismissal is found in

§ 1997e, the same section of the PLRA that sets out the

exhaustion requirement, the inference is inescapable that

Congress did not intend to include failure to exhaust among

the categories justifying sua sponte dismissal. 

Id. (quoting Ray v. Kertes, 285 F.3d 287, 296 (3d Cir. 2002). In our

view, the approach that we took in Anderson compels us to conclude

that a routine dismissal on exhaustion grounds is not a strike for purposes of the PLRA. 

The PLRA’s three-strikes provision by its terms applies only if a

prisoner has had three prior actions dismissed as "frivolous, malicious, or [for] fail[ure] to state a claim upon which relief may be

granted." 28 U.S.C.A. § 1915(g). Because a dismissal for failure to

exhaust is not listed in § 1915(g), it would be improper for us to read

it into the statute. Congress created the exhaustion requirement in the

section of the PLRA immediately preceding the three-strikes provision,1

but Congress nonetheless declined to include a dismissal on exhaustion grounds as one of the types of dismissals that should be treated

as a strike. Accordingly, we must honor Congress’s deliberate omission from § 1915(g) of dismissals for failure to exhaust and conclude

that a routine dismissal for failure to exhaust administrative remedies

does not count as a strike under § 1915(g). See Snider v. Melindez,

1The PLRA is codified in scattered sections of Titles 11, 18, 28, and

42 of the United States Code; the exhaustion requirement is codified in

Title 42, while the three-strikes provision is codified in Title 28. In the

Act itself, however, the exhaustion requirement is found in § 803(d), and

the three-strikes provision is found in § 804(d). See Pub. L. No. 104-134,

110 Stat. 1321-71, 1321-74. 

6 GREEN v. YOUNG
199 F.3d 108, 112 (2d Cir. 1999) ("We do not think that Section

1915(g) was meant to impose a strike upon a prisoner who suffers a

dismissal because of the prematurity of his suit but then exhausts his

administrative remedies and successfully reinstitutes it.").2

We note, however, that our conclusion is limited to what we have

referred to as "routine" dismissals for failure to exhaust—typically

dismissals arising in cases where the prisoner’s claims have been presented to a court for the first time. Nothing in this opinion should be

understood as limiting a district court’s discretion in non-routine

cases, where evidence of frivolousness or malice exists beyond the

mere fact that exhaustion has not been obtained. For example, if a district court dismisses a complaint on exhaustion grounds and the prisoner, without exhausting his remedies, files another complaint

seeking relief for the same conduct alleged in the original complaint,

the district court could conclude that the second complaint was frivolous or malicious and thus qualifies as a strike under § 1915(g). This

is but one example, and there may well be other situations where the

circumstances would warrant treating as a strike a dismissal of an

action filed by a prisoner who did not first exhaust his administrative

remedies. Routine dismissals based solely on the fact that exhaustion

has not occurred, however, do not qualify as strikes under § 1915(g).

III.

Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, we conclude that a routine

2We recognize that other courts have held that a dismissal on exhaustion grounds is a strike under § 1915(g), some by determining that a failure to exhaust was the equivalent of a failure to state a claim. See, e.g.,

Steele v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, 355 F.3d 1204, 1210, 1213 (10th

Cir. 2003) (concluding that a PLRA action that does not allege exhaustion does not state a claim and concluding without additional explanation

that dismissal for failure to exhaust counts as a strike); Rivera v. Allin,

144 F.3d 719, 731 (11th Cir. 1998) ("A claim that fails to allege the requisite exhaustion of remedies is tantamount to one that fails to state a

claim upon which relief may be granted."). We have rejected that

approach to interpreting the PLRA in Anderson, and, as discussed above,

we believe that our analysis in Anderson compels the conclusion we

reach today. 

GREEN v. YOUNG 7
dismissal of a prisoner’s complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies does not qualify as a strike for purposes of the PLRA.

We therefore grant Green’s motion for leave to proceed without prepayment of fees. 

MOTION GRANTED

8 GREEN v. YOUNG