From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Gladney v. Pendleton Correctional Facility

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Sep 13, 2002
302 F.3d 773 (7th Cir. 2002)

Summary

holding "no evidentiary hearing is required in a prisoner's case (or anyone else's, for that matter) when the factual allegations are incredible"

Summary of this case from James v. Barker

Opinion

No. 01-2182.

Submitted June 27, 2002.

Decided September 13, 2002. Rehearing Denied October 3, 2002.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, John D. Tinder, J.

Abraham Gladney, Jr., Michigan City, IN, plaintiff-appellant pro se.

Steve Carter, Office of the Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, for defendant-appellee.

Before POSNER, KANNE, and EVANS, Circuit Judges.


A state prison inmate brought a civil rights suit against prison officials. The district court dismissed the suit as frivolous, 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1), and the inmate appeals. The only issue, one we left open in Sanders v. Sheahan, 198 F.3d 626 (7th Cir. 1999), but think the time has come to resolve, is the standard of appellate review of determinations of "factual" frivolousness under section 1915A(b)(1). Usually suits are dismissed as frivolous because there is absolutely no legal basis for the plaintiff's claim. Sometimes, however, a suit is dismissed because the facts alleged in the complaint are so nutty ("delusional" is the polite word) that they're unbelievable, even though there has been no evidentiary hearing to determine their truth or falsity. See, e.g., Lee v. Clinton, 209 F.3d 1025, 1025 (7th Cir. 2000); Bilal v. Driver, 251 F.3d 1346 (11th Cir. 2001); Lawler v. Marshall, 898 F.2d 1196, 1199 (6th Cir. 1990). Stated differently but with the same result, no evidentiary hearing is required in a prisoner's case (or anyone else's, for that matter) when the factual allegations are incredible. Blackledge v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63, 76, 97 S.Ct. 1621, 52 L.Ed.2d 136 (1977); United States v. McMullen, 98 F.3d 1155, 1159 (9th Cir. 1996); Peavy v. United States, 31 F.3d 1341, 1345 (6th Cir. 1994); Houston v. Lockhart, 982 F.2d 1246, 1250 (8th Cir. 1993). That was the basis of the dismissal here. The complaint alleges that on numerous occasions over a span of three years unnamed guards at three different prisons unlocked the door to the plaintiff's cell while he was asleep, allowing inmates to come in and drug and sexually assault him. He slept through all these outrages and only discovered what had happened when one day he noticed a needle mark under his lip. When he visited the prison infirmary to have the mark attended to, the medical personnel claimed not to see the mark because they were trying to make him think that he was delusional. These are copycat allegations from Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 27-28, 112 S.Ct. 1728, 118 L.Ed.2d 340 (1992), and are obviously and knowingly false.

It was Denton, coincidentally, that held that a district court's finding of factual frivolousness under an earlier, similarly worded statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d), is to be reviewed for abuse of discretion, a deferential standard. True, the district judge hasn't a great advantage over the appellate judges when it comes to assessing the adequacy of a complaint, but, as emphasized in Denton itself and in a number of other cases as well, see 504 U.S. at 33, 112 S.Ct. 1728; Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 328, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989); Bilal v. Driver, supra, 251 F.3d at 1349; Nasim v. Warden, 64 F.3d 951, 955 (4th Cir. 1995); Adams v. Rice, 40 F.3d 72, 74 (4th Cir. 1994) (though only Bilal and Adams involved factual frivolousness), he has some, because district judges see many more prisoner suits, with their often bizarre allegations, than appellate judges do. In addition, the determination that particular factual allegations are too crazy to trigger any sort of evidentiary proceeding (such as requiring the defendants to file affidavits in support of a motion for summary judgment) is case-specific and so does not engage the primary duty of an appellate court, which is to maintain the coherence and (reasonable) uniformity, as well as the lawfulness and intelligence, of legal doctrine. See, e.g., Buford v. United States, 532 U.S. 59, 65-66, 121 S.Ct. 1276, 149 L.Ed.2d 197 (2001); Cooter Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 403-04, 110 S.Ct. 2447, 110 L.Ed.2d 359 (1990); Thomas v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 288 F.3d 305, 307-08 (7th Cir. 2002); United States v. Hill, 196 F.3d 806, 808 (7th Cir. 1999); Mars Steel Corp. v. Continental Bank N.A., 880 F.2d 928, 933-34 (7th Cir. 1989); United States v. Childress, 58 F.3d 693, 702-03 (D.C. Cir. 1995).

Here we pause to note that some of the cases we cited earlier were decided not under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) but under its materially identical successor, section 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). Both old (d) and new (e)(2)(B)(i) govern all cases in which the plaintiff is asking to be allowed to proceed in forma pauperis, that is, without having to prepay filing fees. Section 1915A(b)(1), in contrast, though like (e)(2)(B)(i) enacted as part of the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act, has a different domain: all suits by prisoners, whether or not they seek to proceed in forma pauperis. Denton, as we said, was decided under section 1915(d), and 1915A(b)(1) differs in two principal respects: dismissal is mandatory rather than discretionary, if the conditions for dismissal such as frivolousness are met ("the court shall . . . dismiss the complaint . . . if the complaint . . . is frivolous," 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) (emphasis added)); and adismissal is with prejudice, whereas under 1915(d) or 1915(e)(2)(B)(i) the plaintiff could (can) proceed by paying the filing fee. Denton v. Hernandez, supra, 504 U.S. at 34, 112 S.Ct. 1728; Underwood v. Wilson, 151 F.3d 292, 296 (5th Cir. 1998); McGore v. Wrigglesworth, 114 F.3d 601, 604 (6th Cir. 1997). Section 1915A(b)(1) does not say in so many words that dismissal is with prejudice, but the implication is clear from the fact that it applies to all prisoner suits, not merely those sought to be prosecuted in forma pauperis. As the Supreme Court said in Denton, "because a § 1915(d) dismissal is not a dismissal on the merits, but rather an exercise of the court's discretion under the in forma pauperis statute, the dismissal does not prejudice the filing of a paid complaint making the same allegations." 504 U.S. at 34, 112 S.Ct. 1728. Obviously that would be true if the suit had been dismissed because the plaintiff had failed to establish that he really was indigent. But a suit dismissed on the ground that it is frivolous normally cannot be refiled. As we explained in Okoro v. Bohman, 164 F.3d 1059, 1062-64 (7th Cir. 1999), while a frivolous suit does not engage the jurisdiction of the district court to decide the merits of the suit, the court has jurisdiction to determine its jurisdiction, and its determination precludes the plaintiff from filing a new suit with the same jurisdictional defect. See also Smith-Bey v. Hospital Administrator, 841 F.2d 751, 758 (7th Cir. 1988). That is the usual rule and the one applicable to section 1915A(b)(1).

Such differences as there are between section 1915 and section 1915A do not bear on the considerations relevant to the scope of review of a finding of factual frivolousness. The standard of review is the same under both statutes, and it is abuse of discretion.

AFFIRMED.


Summaries of

Gladney v. Pendleton Correctional Facility

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Sep 13, 2002
302 F.3d 773 (7th Cir. 2002)

holding "no evidentiary hearing is required in a prisoner's case (or anyone else's, for that matter) when the factual allegations are incredible"

Summary of this case from James v. Barker

holding in the context of a §1915A dismissal, "no evidentiary hearing is required in a prisoner's case . . . when the factual allegations are incredible"

Summary of this case from Gimbrone v. Krisher

concluding that frivolous suits must be dismissed under either § 1915A or § 1915(g)

Summary of this case from Walton v. Walker

affirming dismissal of complaint as frivolous where the plaintiff alleged that over a span of three years, multiple guards at three different prisons left his cell door unlocked at night while he was sleeping so that other inmates could come in his cell and assault him

Summary of this case from Holland v. Ceo Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.

affirming dismissal of complaint as frivolous where the plaintiff alleged that over a span of three years, multiple guards at three different prisons left his cell door unlocked at night while he was sleeping so that other inmates could come in his cell and assault him

Summary of this case from Suess v. Obama

affirming dismissal of complaint as frivolous where the plaintiff alleged that over a span of three years, multiple guards at three different prisons left his cell door unlocked at night while he was sleeping so that other inmates could come in his cell and assault him

Summary of this case from Holland v. Lake Cnty. Mun. Gov't

affirming dismissal of complaint as frivolous where the plaintiff alleged that over a span of three years, multiple guards at three different prisons left his cell door unlocked at night while he was sleeping so that other inmates could come in his cell and assault him

Summary of this case from Suess v. Cent. Intelligence Agency

affirming dismissal of complaint as frivolous where the plaintiff alleged that over a span of three years, multiple guards at three different prisons left his cell door unlocked at night while he was sleeping so that other inmates could come in his cell and assault him

Summary of this case from Holland v. City of Gary

affirming dismissal of complaint in which plaintiff alleged that "on numerous occasions over a span of three years unnamed guards at three different prisons unlocked the door to the plaintiff's cell while he was asleep, allowing inmates to come in and drug and sexually assault him"

Summary of this case from Brodzki v. State

describing § 1915(e) as § 1915(d)'s "materially identical successor" and stating that under either version of the statute, "the plaintiff [could] proceed by paying the filing fee"

Summary of this case from Davis v. Butler Cnty.

noting that a dismissal for failure to state a claim under § 1915A(b) should be made with prejudice

Summary of this case from Cohen v. Rosenstein

indicating same for dismissals for factual frivolousness

Summary of this case from Nagy v. FMC Butner

acknowledging district court judges have an advantage over appellate judges in recognizing when factual allegations are “incredible” because “district judges see many more prisoner suits, with their often bizarre allegations . . . .”

Summary of this case from Hoskins v. Swisher

noting that allegations are factually frivolous if they are "unbelievable" or "incredible"

Summary of this case from Atkins v. Sharpe

explaining that courts need not credit assertions that are "so nutty ('delusional' is the polite word) that they're unbelievable"

Summary of this case from Bradley v. Beahm

In Gladney, 302 F.3d at 774, the complaint alleged that on numerous occasions over a span of three years unnamed guards to three different prisons unlocked the door to the plaintiff's cell while he was asleep, allowing inmates to come in and drug and sexually assault him.

Summary of this case from Hiler v. Pollard

noting that suits can be dismissed as factually frivolous when "the facts alleged in the complaint are so nutty ('delusional' is the polite word) that they're unbelievable, even though there has been no evidentiary hearing to determine their truth or falsity"

Summary of this case from Davis v. Sheriff

In Gladney, the court of appeals noted that a suit can be dismissed "because the facts alleged in the complaint are so nutty (`delusional' is the polite word) that they're unbelievable, even though there has been no evidentiary hearing to determine their truth or falsity."

Summary of this case from Words v. TCF Bank
Case details for

Gladney v. Pendleton Correctional Facility

Case Details

Full title:Abraham GLADNEY, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PENDLETON CORRECTIONAL…

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Date published: Sep 13, 2002

Citations

302 F.3d 773 (7th Cir. 2002)

Citing Cases

McElrath v. Karshen

Courts may dismiss claims based on allegations that are "obviously and knowingly false." Gladney v. Pendleton…

McAdoo v. Ross

A district court may dismiss a claim when it is based on allegations that are "obviously and knowingly…