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Resarh Service
Three Strikes, You're Out: Supreme Court to
Consider Limit on Prisoner Litigation
Updated June 8, 2020
UPDATE: The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez on June 8, 2020. The full
Court agreed that [t] he text of Section 1915(g) 's three-strikesprovision refers to any dismissal for
failure to state a claim, whether with prejudice or without.
The original post from February 20, 2020, is below.
The Administrative Office of the United States Courts reports that in 2018, state and federal prisoners
filed nearly 54,000 suits in federal district court. Such litigation, which often challenges the conditions of
confinement in federal and state prisons, may allow prisoners to vindicate fundamental rights but can also
place a heavy burden on the federal courts that hear the cases and the government officials who must
defend against them. The Priso n Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) seeks to balance thosec ompeting
interests, ensuring that the flood of nonmeritorious claims does not submerge and effectively preclude
consideration of the allegations with merit. On February 26, 2020, the Supreme Court is scheduled to
hear oral argument in the latest dispute over the PLRA, Lomax v. OriL--Majnluez. The case concerns the
scope of the PLRA's three strikes provision, which aims to limit meritless litigation by prisoners. This
Sidebar outlines the applicable legal regime, explaining how the PLRAmodified the law related to
prisoner litigation. The Sidebar then summarizes the litigation in Lomax and presents key considerations
for Congress.
St at utory Background
Proceedings In Forma Pauperis
By statute, a person who files suit in federal court must generally prepay a filing fee, which currently
totals $400 for most civil actions brought in district court. Charging filing fees is understood to benefit the
judiciary not only by helping to cover the courts' operating costs, but also by deterring excessive
litigation: if litigants must pay hundreds of dollars every time they file a lawsuit, they may be less
inclined to initiate time- and resource-consuming litigation with a low probability of success.
To ensure that filing fees do not prevent indigent litigants from bringing potentially meritorious lawsuits,
in the late 19th century Congress enacted legislation allowing litigants who submit an affidavit of
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
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CRS Lega i&sebar
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