Prison-Litigation-Reform-Act

59 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-6112 Luke Masood Arabzadegan v. Texas Fifth Circuit 2025-11-14 Denied IFP administrative-law circuit-court-discretion criminal-case filing-fee judicial-procedure prison-litigation-reform-act 1. HAS THE 05TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS ALLEGEDLY ABUSED THEIR DISCRETION, BY DEMANDING PETITIONER PAY THE PRISON LITIGATION REFORM ACT'S FILING FEE,…
25-350 Charles Brooks, et al. v. Jeremy James Allen Eighth Circuit 2025-09-24 Denied Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) circuit-split grievance-process inmate-lawsuit mandatory-exhaustion prison-litigation-reform-act unexhausted-claims When a formerly incarcerated person amends a complaint filed while he was in prison and adds unexhausted claims, does the PLRA require dismissal of th…
25A106 Nelson Mickens, Jr. v. William Danforth Eleventh Circuit 2025-07-25 Presumed Complete administrative-remedies civil-rights exhaustion-requirement prison-litigation-reform-act pro-se-complaint section-1983 Whether the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires a prisoner to exhaust all available administrative remedies before filing a civil rights lawsuit und…
24A934 Jay Christensen, et al. v. Shawn Sheltra Ninth Circuit 2025-03-28 Presumed Complete administrative-exhaustion continuing-violation-exception inmate-litigation ninth-circuit-split prison-litigation-reform-act ross-v-blake Whether the Prison Litigation Reform Act's administrative exhaustion requirement under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) permits a continuing violation exception t…
24-1022 Susan Hutson v. United States, et al. Fifth Circuit 2025-03-25 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (6) civil-procedure judicial-jurisdiction motion-to-terminate prison-litigation-reform-act prospective-relief statutory-interpretation Whether a State or local official who moves to terminate prospective relief under 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(1)(A) bears any affirmative burden beyond demons…
24A761 Chad Cutler v. Anthony Wills, Warden Seventh Circuit 2025-02-05 Presumed Complete administrative-remedies civil-rights exhaustion-requirement prison-conditions prison-litigation-reform-act pro-se-litigant Whether the Prison Litigation Reform Act's exhaustion requirement bars a pro se prisoner's civil rights claim when administrative remedies were allege…
24-743 Neil Dupree v. Kevin Younger Fourth Circuit 2025-01-14 Denied Amici (1)Response Waived administrative-remedies exhaustion-requirement inmate-grievance-office internal-investigative-unit prison-litigation-reform-act ross-v-blake Whether a grievance procedure that prisoners regularly have been able to use to have their claims adjudicated on the merits is 'available' for that re…
24-6124 Bradley Dorman v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2024-12-11 Denied Relisted (2)IFP court-access equal-protection first-amendment prison-litigation-reform-act three-strike-rule younger-abstention Whether the Prison Litigation Reform Act's 'Three-Strike' Rule is unconstitutionally applied to a prisoner's prior Younger abstention dismissals and v…
24-597 Jonathan Eugene Brunson v. Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General of North Carolina, et al. Fourth Circuit 2024-12-03 Denied circuit-split heck-dismissal in-forma-pauperis prison-litigation-reform-act section-1983 three-strikes-rule Whether dismissals under Heck v. Humphrey categorically constitute strikes under the Prison Litigation Reform Act's three-strikes rule
24A394 Brian Estrada v. Jacob Smart Tenth Circuit 2024-10-23 Presumed Complete administrative-exhaustion jury-trial merits-of-claim prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-rights procedural-exhaustion Whether prisoners have a right to a jury trial concerning administrative exhaustion under the Prison Litigation Reform Act where disputed facts regard…
24A220 Neil Dupree v. Kevin Younger Fourth Circuit 2024-08-29 Presumed Complete administrative-remedies exhaustion-requirement federalism judicial-deference prison-litigation-reform-act state-law Whether federal courts must defer to a state's longstanding interpretation of its own administrative grievance procedures when determining 'availabili…
23-1324 Thomas Perttu v. Kyle Brandon Richards Sixth Circuit 2024-06-20 Judgment Issued Amici (7) administrative-exhaustion administrative-law civil-procedure exhaustion-of-remedies jury-trial merits-of-claim prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-rights procedural-merits prisoner-rights
23-7601 Khari Devon Coley v. Correctional Officer Wayne L. Garland, et al. Second Circuit 2024-05-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-remedies civil-rights custody-challenge due-process exhaustion-of-remedies habeas-corpus judicial-process prison-litigation-reform-act prison-transfer prisoner-rights procedural-review standing Whether the petitioner's prison grievance procedures were rendered unavailable to the prisoner upon his transfer to the custody of the New York Office…
23-7383 Kenric Ledbetter, et al. v. Religious Practice Committee, et al. Fifth Circuit 2024-05-06 Denied IFP civil-procedure civil-rights due-process filing-fees legal-document petition prison-litigation-reform-act standing supreme-court writ-of-certiorari Whether the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires per-plaintiff filing fees in a multi-plaintiff lawsuit
23-6962 Vernon D. F. Robbins v. John E. Wetzel, former Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al. Third Circuit 2024-03-12 Denied IFP administrative-remedy-exhaustion circuit-split due-process equal-protection stare-decisis administrative-exhaustion equal-protection prison-litigation-reform-act pro-se-litigation stare-decisis third-circuit-court Whether the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has entered a decision in conflict with the decision of the same United States Court …
23A500 Michael W. Bohannan v. Erica Redic, Texas Department of Justice-CID Law Library Supervisor, et al. Fifth Circuit 2023-12-01 Presumed Complete civil-rights court-sanctions in-forma-pauperis prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-litigation pro-se Whether a pro se prisoner's failure to strictly comply with Prison Litigation Reform Act procedural requirements warrants dismissal of a civil rights …
23-6142 Fathiree Ali v. Steven Simmons, et al. Sixth Circuit 2023-11-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-remedies civil-rights due-process exhaustion exhaustion-requirement grievance-procedure judicial-review plra prison-litigation-reform-act ross-v-blake When assessing whether prison administrators made the grievance procedure unavailable based on the three circumstances in Ross v. Blake, (1) will all …
23A377 Anthony Andrews v. United States, et al. Fourth Circuit 2023-10-25 Presumed Complete appellate-procedure frivolous-dismissal imminent-danger in-forma-pauperis prison-litigation-reform-act serious-physical-injury Whether a prisoner with three prior frivolous dismissals can proceed in forma pauperis under the Prison Litigation Reform Act without demonstrating im…
23-5580 Richard Barroso v. Texas Texas 2023-09-14 Rehearing Relisted (2)IFP civil-rights disability-accommodations disability-rights due-process equal-protection prison-litigation-reform-act rehabilitation-act Whether petitioner has a due-process right to be heard and determined as to whether his physical-and-mental disabilities significantly impair his abil…
22-7093 Walter Harris v. Neil Turner, Warden Sixth Circuit 2023-03-24 Denied IFP 42-usc-1983 civil-rights constitutional-rights culer-v-adams due-process interstate-agreement-on-detainers prison-litigation-reform-act pro-se-litigant procedural-fairness section-1983 standing Whether the petitioner's 42 USC 1983 complaint was improperly dismissed for failing to cite specific statutes and case law on the PLRA complaint form,…
22-6325 Travis Ray Thompson v. Kathleen Allison, Secretary, California Department of Corrections, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-12-16 Denied IFP administrative-grievance civil-rights covid-19 covid-19-prison due-process due-process-protections exhaustion exhaustion-requirement imminent-danger-exception plra prison prison-litigation-reform-act Whether the Eastern District abused its discretion finding Petitioner was not entitled to an 'imminent danger' exception to the PLRA, 42 USC § 1997e(a…
22-6054 Stephen Barbee v. Bryan Collier, et al. Fifth Circuit 2022-11-15 Denied IFP capital-punishment execution-chamber fifth-circuit first-amendment free-exercise prison-litigation-reform-act prison-policy religious-rights rluipa spiritual-advisor Whether the Fifth Circuit erred in vacating the injunction requiring TDCJ to publish a clear policy on religious expression in the execution chamber
22-5799 Anthony Andrews v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Fourth Circuit 2022-10-11 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP civil-rights due-process failure-to-protect inmate-assault prison-litigation-reform-act standing Whether the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) bars a civil action for damages against prison officials for failure to protect an inmate from assault…
22-50 Waseem Daker v. Timothy C. Ward, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Corrections Eleventh Circuit 2022-07-20 Denied Response Waived blood-borne-diseases civil-rights due-process hepatitis-risk hiv-transmission imminent-danger incarcerated-person-rights prison-litigation-reform-act standing three-strikes-provision Whether an incarcerated person must allege presently occurring or certain-to-occur serious physical injury in order to successfully invoke the 'immine…
21-7989 Peter Vu v. San Francisco Police Department, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-05-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-interpretation due-process federal-rules-of-civil-procedure judicial-review pleading-standard prison-litigation-reform-act stare-decisis u.s-constitution Whether the Iqbal & Twombly fact-pleading standard applied and extended in the Ninth Circuit through the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) in Hebbe …
21-1351 Don Barnes, Sheriff, Orange County, California, et al. v. Melissa Ahlman, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-04-14 Denied Response Waived appellate-review judicial-error merits-review miller-v-french mootness preliminary-injunction prison-litigation-reform-act standing supreme-court-stay Whether a preliminary injunction issued under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and stayed by this Honorable Court shall evade appellate review …
21-1332 Waseem Daker v. Timothy Ward, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2022-04-06 Denied Response Waived blood-borne-disease blood-borne-diseases civil-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process imminent-danger incarcerated-rights prison-litigation-reform-act serious-physical-injury standing sua-sponte-dismissal Whether an incarcerated person must allege presently occurring or certain-to-occur serious physical injury to invoke the 'imminent danger' exception u…
21-1191 Gabriel Gonzalez v. United States Eighth Circuit 2022-02-28 Denied appellate-review article-iii article-iii-power federal-courts in-forma-pauperis prison-litigation-reform-act statutory-interpretation strikes ultra-vires Whether federal district courts exceed their statutory or Article III power by issuing proclamations that their dismissal 'counts as a 'strike' within…
21-6829 Ibrahim Donmez v. New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, et al. Second Circuit 2022-01-13 Denied Relisted (2)IFP civil-procedure due-process litigation-reform neitzke-v-williams non-prisoner-complaints prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-rights screening-standard section-1915 standing statutory-interpretation Does 28-USC-1915 allow dismissal of non-frivolous non-prisoner complaints for failure to state a claim or seeking relief against immune defendants bef…
21-6337 Kendall K. Magee v. Gloria Perry, et al. Fifth Circuit 2021-11-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-remedies civil-rights due-process exhaustion-requirement federal-courts prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-litigation prisoner-rights Whether a prisoner must proceed to the final step of the administrative grievance process to meet the exhaustion requirement of the Prison Litigation …
21-692 Sergeant Haystings, et al. v. Albert B. Korb Third Circuit 2021-11-10 Denied administrative-remedies civil-procedure civil-rights exhaustion-requirement federal-rules-of-civil-procedure judicial-procedure prison-litigation-reform-act standing supplemental-pleading Whether a prisoner can cure a violation of the Prison Litigation Reform Act's mandatory pre-suit exhaustion requirement by filing a supplemental plead…
21-5780 Omari H. Patton v. Crystal Kimble Fourth Circuit 2021-09-24 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3)IFP bivens-action civil-rights constitutional-rights due-process first-amendment prison-litigation-reform-act retaliation-claim special-factors-doctrine standing Can federal prisoners use a Bivens action for a First Amendment retaliation claim?
21-5376 Samuel Roy Abram v. David Leu, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2021-08-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-procedure civil-rights due-process exhaustion-of-remedies prison-litigation-reform-act standing Was petitioner required to request consideration of an unwritten grievance, for a valid reason under PLRA?
21-18 Skyler Thomas Rice v. Ed Gonzalez, Sheriff, Harris County, Texas Fifth Circuit 2021-07-08 Denied Response Waived article-iii circuit-split civil-rights due-process habeas habeas-corpus jurisdiction mootness prison-litigation-reform-act pro-se standing Whether the court of appeals' judgment should be vacated, where the appeal was moot at the time the opinion issued
20-1734 Waseem Daker v. Timothy C. Ward, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2021-06-16 Denied civil-procedure civil-rights due-process filing-fees intervention joinder prison-litigation-reform-act section-1983 standing Whether the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires each prisoner filing a lawsuit to pay a separate filing fee
20-6354 Richard A. Poplawski v. John E. Wetzel, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al. Third Circuit 2020-11-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure civil-procedure civil-rights due-process equal-protection fee-provisions fifth-amendment in-forma-pauperis prison-litigation-reform-act standing Can courts strategically exempt litigants from the law to thwart test cases?
20-6071 Jerry Kent Dillingham v. Eva Scruggs, et al. Ninth Circuit 2020-10-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-remedies civil-rights due-process exhaustion-of-remedies inmate-appeals prison-litigation-reform-act Whether a properly filed/submitted inmate grievance was effectively unavailable due to prison officials' failure to respond within procedural time con…
20-6031 Durwyn Talley v. United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois Seventh Circuit 2020-10-15 Dismissed Relisted (2)IFP access-to-courts civil-rights court-access due-process equal-protection federal-jurisdiction first-amendment fourteenth-amendment prison-litigation-reform-act Whether the United States Court of appeals, 7th Circuit decision denying Petitioner access to the Court and his right to file any motions against such…
20-360 David Shinn, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, et al. v. Shawn Jensen, et al. Ninth Circuit 2020-09-17 Denied attorneys-fees circuit-court-split circuit-split civil-rights fee-enhancement judicial-discretion lodestar-method prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-litigation statutory-interpretation Whether the PLRA leaves any room for a district court to enhance a fee award in prisoner cases beyond what it statutorily prescribes
19-8840 Darnell Cooper v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc., et al. Seventh Circuit 2020-06-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure civil-rights due-process equal-protection filing-fees in-forma-pauperis judicial-discretion partial-filing-fee prison-litigation-reform-act standing Whether the petitioner was denied due process and equal protection by being required to pay a partial filing fee to appeal his civil rights case, when…
19-1387 Waseem Daker v. Theodore Jackson, Sheriff, Fulton County, Georgia, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2020-06-18 Denied access-to-courts civil-rights constitutional-challenge first-amendment free-speech in-forma-pauperis prison-litigation-reform-act religious-exercise three-strikes three-strikes-provision Whether the Prison Litigation Reform Act 'three-strikes' provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), is unconstitutional as applied to deny a prisoner access to c…
19-8268 Ade Brown v. Reid Desrochers, et al. Sixth Circuit 2020-04-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-remedies civil-rights due-process exhaustion exhaustion-requirement grievance-procedures grievance-process prison-litigation-reform-act summary-judgment Does the petitioner properly satisfy exhaustion of all available administrative remedies?
19-867 Wexford Health, et al. v. Kareem Garrett Third Circuit 2020-01-10 Denied Amici (1)Relisted (4) administrative-remedies amended-complaint circuit-split exhaustion-requirement judicial-exception prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-rights prisoner-status procedural-dismissal Whether Section 1997e(a) of the Prison Litigation Reform Act mandates dismissal of unexhausted claims or allows a prisoner to cure failure to exhaust …
19-7233 Jameice Nash v. James Kenney, et al. Third Circuit 2020-01-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP Article III-right civil-rights due-process federalism Heck-doctrine Prison Litigation Reform Act prison-litigation-reform-act prosecutorial-immunity Racially-tainted procedural-violations Sovereign state-police powers sovereign-immunity statute-of-limitations Tenth Amendment-principles Tenth Amendment-rights tenth-amendment Did the lower courts violate Petitioner's Fifth Amendment due process rights and Tenth Amendment rights
19-6783 Virgil Lamont Jarvis v. David Allison, Sheriff, Pearl River County, Mississippi, et al. Fifth Circuit 2019-12-02 Denied Relisted (2)IFP administrative-review appeal-rights appeals civil-procedure civil-rights district-court due-process exhaustion-of-administrative-remedies in-forma-pauperis jury-trial legal-procedure prison-litigation-reform-act standing summary-judgment Whether officials can refuse to process inmate grievances and then dismiss a subsequent civil rights lawsuit for failure to exhaust administrative rem…
19-6410 Donald W. Rager v. Paige Augustine, Warden, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2019-10-29 Denied IFP administrative-remedies circuit-split civil-rights due-process equitable-tolling exhaustion-of-administrative-remedies exhaustion-of-remedies plra prison-conditions prison-litigation-reform-act statute-of-limitations tolling Whether the statute of limitations should be tolled for the time spent exhausting administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA…
19-5708 Relonzo Phillips v. DeKalb County Assistant Public Defenders, et al. Georgia 2019-08-28 Denied Relisted (2)IFP appellate-procedure civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-law constitutional-provisions due-process federal-question-jurisdiction prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner property-rights standing takings Whether the lower court erred in its application of the legal standard for determining standing to bring a claim under the Takings Clause of the Fifth…
19-5573 Monte Whitehead v. Greg Marcantel, et al. Tenth Circuit 2019-08-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP 42-usc-1997e civil-rights court-access due-process equal-protection first-amendment grievance-process physical-injury prison-litigation-reform-act redress-of-grievances standing Do Federal Statutes 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) & (e) abridge the First Amendment rights of prisoners by requiring them to meet certain standards before they…
19-5135 Joseph Ballard v. Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections Louisiana 2019-07-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP access-to-courts automatic-stay centralized-inmate-banking dismissal due-process equal-protection meaningful-access-to-courts prison-litigation-reform-act statutory-automatic-stay Is Louisiana obligated to implement and maintain a Centralized Inmate Banking System?
18-1547 Charles L. Ryan, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, et al. v. Shawn Jensen, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-06-14 Denied 28-usc-636 civil-procedure civil-rights civil-rights-litigation constitutional-violation federal-court-procedure federal-jurisdiction federal-rights magistrate-judge magistrate-judge-selection magistrate-jurisdiction prison-litigation-reform-act prospective-relief statutory-interpretation Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in allowing parties to choose their own magistrate judge and in permitting prospective relief in a prisoner case witho…
18-9023 Keith Clayton Brooks Jr. v. David Gabriel, et al. Tenth Circuit 2019-04-26 Dismissed IFP civil-procedure civil-procedure-collateral-order-doctrine collateral-order-doctrine constitutional-violations due-process enlargement-of-time federal-relief habeas-corpus magistrate-judge prison-litigation prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-rights pro-se pro-se-prisoner standing Whether the collateral order doctrine can be invoked when a party is deprived of an opportunity to preserve issues for appellate review
18-8588 Francis O. Rossy v. Sgt. Lupkin, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2019-03-27 Denied IFP asylum-state civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-violation due-process extradition extradition-liability habeas-corpus prison-litigation-reform-act procedural-challenge standing When a petitioner challenges his extradition, are the defendant-responsible-for-the-extradition-totally-exempt-from-liability, although they knew of t…
18-8369 Arthur J. Lomax v. Christina Ortiz-Marquez, et al. Tenth Circuit 2019-03-11 Judgment Issued Amici (5)Response RequestedRelisted (4)IFP civil-procedure constitutional-law due-process jurisdiction standing statutory-interpretation civil-procedure civil-rights dismissal-without-prejudice due-process prison-litigation-reform-act standing Whether a dismissal without prejudice for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) counts as a 'strike' under 28 U.S.C. 1915(g)
18-8088 Steve Lee Menius v. Michael Stephan, Warden, et al. Fourth Circuit 2019-02-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP access-to-courts administrative-law administrative-response civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-rights corrections-system due-process free-speech grievance-procedure grievance-process inmate-rights prison-litigation-reform-act retaliation standing Whether the district court erred in dismissing the petitioner's civil rights claims due to failure to exhaust administrative remedies under the Prison…
18-7476 Scott Ash James Zirus v. Sharon Faye Keller, et al. Fifth Circuit 2019-01-17 Denied IFP 42-usc-1983 42-usc-section-1983 civil-action civil-procedure civil-rights fee-payment prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-rights standing writ-of-mandamus When a prisoner's 42 U.S.C. §1983 action is construed as a Petition for Writ of Mandamus, is it a 'civil action' within the scope of the Prison Litiga…
18-6440 Danny R. Meeks v. Tennessee Department of Correction, et al. Sixth Circuit 2018-10-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP evasion exhaustion-requirement Prison-Litigation-Reform-Act statute-of-limitations unlawful-practice ada-compliance americans-with-disabilities-act exhaustion-requirement harassment prison-litigation-reform-act prisoner-rights statute-of-limitations threats Whether a covered entity can maintain an unlawful practice of evading ADA responsibilities
18-269 Alan Mapuatuli, et al. v. Matthew G. Whitaker, Acting Attorney General Ninth Circuit 2018-09-04 Denied attorney-client-privilege attorney-work-product civil-rights confidential-communication confidentiality criminal-procedure due-process federal-inmates prison-litigation-reform-act prosecutorial-misconduct sixth-amendment work-product-doctrine Sixth Amendment right to counsel violated by interception of prison emails with counsel
18-5487 Angel Soto v. Unknown Sweetman, et al. Ninth Circuit 2018-08-07 Denied IFP accrual-of-claims administrative-exhaustion circuit-split civil-procedure civil-rights claim-accrual judicial-procedure prison-litigation-reform-act statute-of-limitations When does a claim accrue under the Prison Litigation Reform Act's mandatory exhaustion requirement?
18-5219 Anthony Tyrone Campbell v. J. Mendez, et al. Ninth Circuit 2018-07-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-exhaustion administrative-procedure administrative-remedies circuit-court-of-appeals civil-procedure civil-rights due-process excessive-force exhaustion-of-remedies judicial-review litigation-reform prison-litigation-reform-act section-1983 standing statutory-interpretation Whether the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision conflicted with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision on the issue of whether the plaintiff sub…