FI L ED
U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S

EL EVENTH CI RCUI T
J UNE 9, 2009

THOMAS K. KAH

N
CL ERK [ D O N O T P U B L I S H ]

I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C I R C U I T

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N o

. 0 8

- 1 3 0 0 9

N o n

- A r g u m e n t C a l e n d a r

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D

. C

. D o c k e t N o

. 0 8

- 0 0 0 1 1

- C V

- 5

M E L V I N J A M E S J A C K S O N

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P l a i n t i f f

- A p p e l l a n t

,

v e r s u s

W A R D E N D O N J A C K S O N

, D O C T O R C H A R L E S H A R D E N

, D o c t o r , N U R S E E D G Y

, P

. A

. ,

D e f e n d a n t s

- A p p e l l e e s

.

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A p p e a l f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t
f o r t h e S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f G e o r g i a

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

( J u n e 9

, 2 0 0 9 )

B e f o r e E D M O N D S O N

, M A R C U S a n d A N D E R S O N

, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

.P E R C U R I A M :

M e l v i n J a m e s J a c k s o n i s a G e o r g i a p r i s o n i n m a t e

. H e s u e d c e r t a i n p r i s o n

o f f i c i a l s u n d e r 4 2 U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 8 3 f o r s u p p o s e d l y a c t i n g w i t h d e l i b e r a t e i n d i f f e r e n c e

t o w a r d s h i s s e r i o u s m e d i c a l n e e d s

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t d i s m i s s e d h i s l a w s u i t u n d e r

2 8 U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 1 5 a f

t e r t h e c o u r t c o n c l u d e d t h a t h e w a s n o t e l i g i b l e t o p r o c e e d i n

f o r m a p a u p e r i s

. W e v a c a t e t h e d e c i s i o n o f t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t a n d r e m a n d t h e c a s e

. 1

S e c t i o n 1 9 1 5 a l l o w s a p r i s o n e r t o f i l e t h r e e f

r i v o l o u s l a w s u i t s a t a r e d u c e d

r a t e

. 2 8 U

. S

. C

. § § 1 9 1 5 ( b )

, ( g ) ; D u p r e e v

. P a l m e r , 2 8 4 F

. 3 d 1 2 3 4

, 1 2 3 6 ( 1 1 t h C i r

.

2 0 0 2 )

. A f

t e r t h e t h i r d b a s e l e s s c o m p l a i n t

, h o w e v e r , a p r i s o n e r m u s t p a y t h e f u l l

f i l i n g f e e

. D u p r e e , 2 8 4 F

. 3 d a t 1 2 3 6

. T h e o n l y e x c e p t i o n i s i f t h e p r i s o n e r f a c e s

i m m i n e n t d a n g e r o f s e r i o u s p h y s i c a l i n j u r y w h e n h e f

i l e s s u i t

. M e d b e r r y v

. B u t l e r ,

1 8 5 F

. 3 d 1 1 8 9

, 1 1 9 3 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 1 9 9 9 )

. J a c k s o n d o e s n o t d i s p u t e t h a t h e h a s a l r e a d y

f i l e d t h r e e f

r i v o l o u s l a w s u i t s ; t h u s , h e m a y p r o c e e d i n f o r m a p a u p e r i s h e r e o n l y i f

h e w a s i n i m m i n e n t d a n g e r o f s e r i o u s h a r m w h e n h e f i l e d s u i t

.

W e b e l i e v e J a c k s o n h a s m e t t h i s s t a n d a r d

. I n h i s c o m p l a i n t

, J a c k s o n c l a i m s

t h a t h e h a s a h e r n i a t h a t c a u s e s h i m t o s u f f e r f r o m s e v e r e p a i n i n h i s t e s t i c l e s a n d

a b d o m e n , b l o o d i n h i s u r i n e , n a u s e a , a n d w e i g h t l o s s

. J a c k s o n c o n t e n d s t h a t

J ackson a sks us to enter a de fault judg ement in his favor and to re consider our

ear lier 1

order deny ing him leave to amend his a ppeal pa pers; we reje ct his reque sts.

2w i t h o u t s u r g e r y , w h i c h t h e d e f e n d a n t p r i s o n o f

f i c i a l s w i l l n o t a p p r o v e , h e w i l l 2

c o n t i n u e t o s u f

f e r f r o m t h o s e i n

j u r i e s a n d m a y e v e n f

a c e t i s s u e d e a t h

, g a n g r e n e ,

a n d i n t e r n a l b l e e d i n g

. B a s e d o n t h e s e a l l e g a t i o n s , w h i c h w e m u s t c o n s t r u e

l i b e r a l l y , a c c e p t a s t r u e , a n d v i e w a s a w h o l e , B r o w n v

. J o h n s o n , 3 8 7 F

. 3 d 1 3 4 4

,

1 3 5 0 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 4 )

, w e c o n c l u d e t h a t J a c k s o n h a s s u f f i c i e n t l y d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t

h e w a s i n i m m i n e n t d a n g e r o f s e r i o u s p h y s i c a l i n j u r y w h e n h e f

i l e d s u i t

. J a c k s o n

m a y p r o c e e d w i t h h i s l a w s u i t i n f o r m a p a u p e r i s

.

V A C A T E D a n d R E M A N D E D

.

I n his appea l paper s, J ackson indica tes that he re ceive d his surg ery afte r filing his 2 complaint. What effe ct this development has on his lawsuit, if any , we sa ve for the district court.

3