Paul v. Marberry

Dist. Ct. erred in denying plaintiff-prisoner's motion seeking leave to proceed in forma pauperis in action alleging that defendant-prison officials violated his 8th Amendment rights by subjecting him to excessive force in removing him from his cell and refusing to provide him with medical care for injuries he sustained as result of said force. Basis for instant denial was fact that plaintiff had three "strikes" arising out of three prior complaints that had been dismissed without prejudice on ground that said complaints were "unintelligible." While all three prior complaints should have been dismissed with prejudice so as to properly count them as strikes against plaintiff, none of three prior dismissal orders counted as strikes due to fact that dismissals were without prejudice and were not based on grounds specified in section 1915(g).