Court Opinion

ID: 9896909
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-14 19:00:45.09238+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:14:52.681114
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-40413        Document: 00516966533             Page: 1      Date Filed: 11/14/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit                                          United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                          Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________
                                                                                        FILED
                                                                                November 14, 2023
                                       No. 23-40413
                                     ____________                                    Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                          Clerk
   Israel Antonio Torres,

                                                                    Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                            versus

   Keith Foust, Lieutenant; Female Officer,

                                              Defendants—Appellees.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Eastern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 6:23-CV-107
                     ______________________________

   Before Smith, Southwick, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
         Israel Antonio Torres, Texas prisoner # 01601476, moves to proceed
   in forma pauperis (IFP) on appeal following the district court’s dismissal of
   his civil rights complaint filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and denial of his
   motion for reconsideration filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e).
   The district court dismissed Torres’s complaint because he failed to comply
   with the court’s order directing him to file an acceptable amended complaint

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
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                                     No. 23-40413

   and a properly supported application to proceed IFP. See Fed. R. Civ.
   P. 41(b); Coleman v. Sweetin, 745 F.3d 756, 766 (5th Cir. 2014).
          Torres’s IFP motion challenges the district court’s determination
   that the appeal is not taken in good faith. See Baugh v. Taylor, 117 F.3d 197,
   202 (5th Cir. 1997). This court’s inquiry into whether the appeal is taken in
   good faith “is limited to whether the appeal involves ‘legal points arguable
   on their merits (and therefore not frivolous).’” Howard v. King, 707 F.2d
   215, 220 (5th Cir. 1983) (citation omitted).
          In his appellate filings, Torres largely discusses his inability to afford
   the appellate filing fee. He does not address his failure to comply with the
   district court’s order that he file a properly supported IFP application and an
   amended complaint, much less provide any argument challenging the reasons
   for the district court’s dismissal of his case. Torres does not make the
   requisite showing that he has a nonfrivolous issue for appeal. See Howard,
   707 F.2d at 220. Accordingly, his motion to proceed IFP is DENIED, and
   his appeal is DISMISSED as frivolous. See Baugh, 117 F.3d at 202 n.24;
   5th Cir. R. 42.2.
          The dismissal of this appeal as frivolous counts as a strike for purposes
   of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Prior to this appeal, Torres had accumulated three
   strikes from the dismissal of three respective causes of action. See Torres v.
   Foust, 6:23-CV-145 (E.D. Tex. June 7, 2023); Torres v. McLemore, 4:22-CV-
   4197 (S.D. Tex. Jan. 30, 2023); Torres v. McLemore, 4:22-CV-3994 (S.D. Tex.
   Dec. 22, 2022). Torres is therefore BARRED from proceeding IFP in any
   civil action or appeal filed in a court of the United States while he is
   incarcerated or detained in any facility unless he is under imminent danger of
   serious physical injury. See § 1915(g). In addition, he is WARNED that any
   pending or future frivolous or repetitive filings in this court or any court
   subject to this court’s jurisdiction may subject him to additional sanctions,

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                                     No. 23-40413

   including monetary sanctions and limits on his access to this court and any
   court subject to this court’s jurisdiction.

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