Opinion ID: 6349516
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Three Strikes Issue on Appeal

Text: The district court’s claim-by-claim approach to the “imminent danger” exception was consistent with the plain language of § 1915A(b) and finds some support in our prior decisions. See McAlphin v. Toney (McAlphin II), 375 F.3d 753, 755 (8th Cir. 2004) (“[U]nder the ‘imminent danger’ exception, the i.f.p. action must be limited to imminent danger claims that have been properly exhausted.”) (emphasis added); Martin, 319 F.3d at 1050-51. But this interpretation has been rejected by other circuits. See, e.g., Chavis v. Chappius, 618 F.3d 162, 171-72 (2d Cir. 2010) (“a plaintiff filing IFP on the basis of the imminent danger exception can proceed with all claims in her complaint.”); Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1053-54 (9th Cir. 2007). We have never addressed this apparent conflict. Thus, when Charron’s pro se brief on appeal complained that the district court should have addressed his pre-cancellation diet interference claims, our customary initial review of pro se appeals suggested the appeal may raise a significant unresolved § 1915(g) issue. So -6- we set the case for oral argument, appointed counsel for Charron, and asked both counsel to address the issue at oral argument. We appreciate their efforts to do so.3 Upon thorough review of the record, we conclude this serious issue that no doubt needs greater attention if presented in a proper case is not presented in this case for a basic reason that we initially overlooked. The district court’s July 24, 2018 opinion approached the imminent danger exception on a claim-by-claim basis, which is required to determine if an imminent danger that is related to at least one claim being asserted existed when the complaint or appeal was filed. But the Court’s July 24, 2018 Order stated in relevant part: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis . . . is GRANTED as to defendants Miguel Paniagua and Larry Allen. This Order granted Charron IFP status under § 1915(b) for all claims asserted against Allen in his pro se complaint (other than official capacity claims that are not at issue). In other words, as to Allen, the district court granted Charron full § 1915(g) relief. The court also dismissed Charron’s claims against other defendants because those claims did not satisfy the imminent danger exception. This partial dismissal of Charron’s entire complaint was arguably contrary to the above-cited cases from other circuits. But Charron did not appeal the without-prejudice dismissal of those 3 We note that Allen’s repeated attempts to stop Charron’s diet beginning in 2015 were arguably part of a “pattern of misconduct” demonstrating an “ongoing serious physical injury” to his health that would satisfy the imminent danger exception under our precedents. Martin, 319 F.3d at 1050; see McAlphin v. Toney (McAlphin I), 281 F.3d 709, 710-11 (8th Cir. 2002); Ashley v. Dilworth, 147 F.3d 715, 717 (8th Cir. 1998); cf. Pinder v. McDowell, 619 F. App’x 565, 566-67 (8th Cir. 2015). For the reasons that follow, we need not take up this issue. -7- defendants, so we leave that issue to another day and turn to the merits of the court’s March 2020 decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Allen.