8th Amendment Violation – Imminent Danger

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Maurice L. Wallace v. John Baldwin, et al.

Case No.: 17-2427

Officials: MANION, HAMILTON, and BARRETT, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 8^th Amendment Violation – Imminent Danger

Plaintiff Maurice Wallace was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole in 2006. A few months after he entered prison, he assaulted a guard. He has been in solitary confinement (euphemistically called “disciplinary segregation”) ever since—for at least eleven years. He is seriously mentally ill. He also poses challenges to both prison officials and federal courts.

Wallace lodged with the district court a proposed complaint against prison officials and the Illinois Department of Corrections. He alleges that his prolonged isolation exacerbates his mental illness, increases his risk of suicide, and violates his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. He is unable to pay the civil filing fee in advance, so he also filed a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. The district court ruled that Wallace cannot proceed in forma pauperis because he has received three “strikes” under the Prison Litigation Reform Act for frivolous cases and did not qualify for the statutory exception for a prisoner who is “under imminent danger of serious physical injury.” See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).

Wallace appeals that denial. He was not allowed to proceed in the district court, and the named defendants have not appeared in either the district court or on appeal. We recruited counsel for Wallace, and they have represented him ably. With better‐developed arguments and with the benefit of Sanders v. Melvin, 873 F.3d 957 (7th Cir. 2017), decided after the district court’s decision in this case, we conclude that the district court’s reasons for denying in forma pauperis status were erroneous. Wallace has alleged sufficiently that he faces imminent danger of serious physical injury. He also has not yet received three “strikes” under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. We vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings.

Vacated and Remanded

Full Text

Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.