Opinion ID: 2738144
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Restricted Filer

Text: Injunctive restrictions on filings by abusive litigants are “necessary and prudent” in order to curb conduct that would impair the rights of other litigants and the courts’ ability to carry out their Article III functions. Procup v. Strickland, 792 F.2d 1069, 1071, 1073 (11th Cir. 1986) (en banc) (per curiam). Therefore, district judges have considerable discretion to impose even severe restrictions on what such individuals may file and how they must behave, though the conditions must not have the effect of completely foreclosing access to the courts. Id. at 1074. Reimposing filing fees on indigent litigants is one available restriction, although any injunction prohibiting IFP filings must be carefully tailored to minimize the 8 Case: 14-10425 Date Filed: 09/30/2014 Page: 9 of 9 exclusion of legitimate claims. Miller v. Donald, 541 F.3d 1091, 1096-97 (11th Cir. 2008) (discussing such restrictions in the non-habeas context). The district judge’s order directing the clerk not to not to accept any further filings from Simmons, absent our authorization, is too broad. Procup, 792 F.2d at 1074. The order requires Simmons to seek our permission to file any new pleadings in district court, even if Simmons is not statutorily required to seek our permission to invoke the district court’s subject matter jurisdiction. Though the clerk likely understood the order to include only those pleadings brought under § 2255 and § 2241, we nevertheless remand with instructions for the district judge to limit the restriction on future filings to habeas petitions challenging Simmons’s federal sentences for his underlying drug convictions. AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED, AND REMANDED IN PART. 9