IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 96-60771
Conference Calendar
PHILLIP STOKES,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
ARMIS E. HAWKINS; DAN M. LEE; LENORE
PRATHER; MICHAEL D. SULLIVAN; EDWIN
L. PITTMAN; FRED L. BANKS; CHUCK MCRAE;
JAMES L. ROBERTS; JAMES W. SMITH; STATE
OF MISSISSIPPI,
Defendants-Appellees.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Mississippi
USDC No. 3:96-CV-328-LN
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April 17, 1997
Before REAVLEY, DAVIS, and BARKSDALE, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Phillip Stokes (Mississippi prisoner #63917), moves this
court for leave to appeal in forma pauperis (IFP) in his appeal
from the dismissal of his suit against the State of Mississippi
and the members of the Supreme Court of Mississippi. The motion
*
Pursuant to Local Rule 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in Local Rule
47.5.4.
No. 96-60771
-2-
for leave to proceed IFP is GRANTED. The PLRA requires a
prisoner appealing IFP in a civil action to pay the full amount
of the filing fee, $105. As Stokes does not have funds for
immediate payment of this fee, he is assessed a partial filing
fee of $1 in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). Following
the payment of the partial filing fee, funds shall be deducted
from Stokes’s prisoner account until the full filing fee is paid.
Id.
IT IS ORDERED that Stokes pay the appropriate filing fee to
the Clerk of the District Court for the Southern District of
Mississippi. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the agency having
custody of Stokes’s inmate account shall, in accordance with 28
U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2), collect the remainder of the $105 filing fee
and forward to the Clerk of the District Court for the Southern
District of Mississippi monthly payments of 20 percent of the
proceeding month's income each time the amount in Stokes's
account exceeds $10.
Stokes alleged that the members of the court conspired to
keep him incarcerated by denying his appeal because he is poor
and black. We have reviewed Stokes’s brief and the record and
perceive no abuse of discretion by the district court. Stokes’s
appeal is without arguable merit and thus frivolous. See Howard
v. King, 707 F.2d 215, 219-20 (5th Cir. 1983). Because the
appeal is frivolous, it is dismissed. See 5TH CIR. R. 42.2.
No. 96-60771
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This is not the first appeal filed by Stokes which has been
dismissed as frivolous. See Stokes v. Ferrell, No. 95-60650,
slip op. at 2 (5th Cir. Dec. 19, 1996); Stokes v. Hargett, No.
96-60362, slip op. at 2 (5th Cir. Aug. 20, 1996). A prisoner may
not
bring a civil action or appeal a judgment in
a civil action or proceeding under this
section if the prisoner has, on 3 or more
prior occasions, while incarcerated or
detained in any facility, brought an action
or appeal in a court of the United States
that was dismissed on the grounds that it is
frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a
claim upon which relief may be granted,
unless the prisoner is under imminent danger
of serious physical injury.
28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Including the dismissal of this appeal,
Stokes has three "strikes." See Adepegba v. Hammons, 103 F.3d
383, 387-88 (5th Cir. 1996). Therefore, except for cases
involving an imminent danger of serious physical injury,
§ 1915(g) bars Stokes from proceeding further under § 1915. He
may proceed in subsequent civil cases under the fee provisions of
28 U.S.C. §§ 1911-14 applicable to everyone else.
IFP GRANTED; APPEAL DISMISSED.