Background
Antwune Jenkins, a Texas prisoner, appealed the dismissal of his Section one thousand nine hundred eighty-three complaint alleging excessive force and retaliation by prison officials. The district court had dismissed claims against one defendant at screening and granted summary judgment against the remaining defendants for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Jenkins sought to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal and argued that his constitutional claims survived screening.
The court’s reasoning
The court held that the appeal was without arguable merit and therefore frivolous. Jenkins failed to exhaust administrative remedies because his grievance regarding the use of force was untimely, even though he filed a timely grievance regarding property confiscation from the same incident. The court also noted that the district court properly denied his post-judgment motion as an inappropriate rehashing of prior contentions. Because the appeal was frivolous, the motion to proceed in forma pauperis was denied.
What it means going forward
The dismissal of this appeal counts as a strike against the prisoner under Section twenty-eight U.S.C. one thousand nine hundred fifteen subsection g. If the prisoner accumulates three strikes, he will be barred from proceeding in forma pauperis in any future civil action or appeal while incarcerated, unless he is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.