[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
JUNE 9, 2009
No. 08-13009 THOMAS K. KAHN
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 08-00011-CV-5
MELVIN JAMES JACKSON,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
WARDEN DON JACKSON,
DOCTOR CHARLES HARDEN,
Doctor,
NURSE EDGY,
P.A.,
Defendants-Appellees.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Georgia
_________________________
(June 9, 2009)
Before EDMONDSON, MARCUS and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Melvin James Jackson is a Georgia prison inmate. He sued certain prison
officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for supposedly acting with deliberate indifference
towards his serious medical needs. The district court dismissed his lawsuit under
28 U.S.C. § 1915 after the court concluded that he was not eligible to proceed in
forma pauperis. We vacate the decision of the district court and remand the case.1
Section 1915 allows a prisoner to file three frivolous lawsuits at a reduced
rate. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(b), (g); Dupree v. Palmer, 284 F.3d 1234, 1236 (11th Cir.
2002). After the third baseless complaint, however, a prisoner must pay the full
filing fee. Dupree, 284 F.3d at 1236. The only exception is if the prisoner faces
imminent danger of serious physical injury when he files suit. Medberry v. Butler,
185 F.3d 1189, 1193 (11th Cir. 1999). Jackson does not dispute that he has already
filed three frivolous lawsuits; thus, he may proceed in forma pauperis here only if
he was in imminent danger of serious harm when he filed suit.
We believe Jackson has met this standard. In his complaint, Jackson claims
that he has a hernia that causes him to suffer from severe pain in his testicles and
abdomen, blood in his urine, nausea, and weight loss. Jackson contends that
1
Jackson asks us to enter a default judgement in his favor and to reconsider our earlier
order denying him leave to amend his appeal papers; we reject his requests.
2
without surgery, which the defendant prison officials will not approve,2 he will
continue to suffer from those injuries and may even face tissue death, gangrene,
and internal bleeding. Based on these allegations, which we must construe
liberally, accept as true, and view as a whole, Brown v. Johnson, 387 F.3d 1344,
1350 (11th Cir. 2004), we conclude that Jackson has sufficiently demonstrated that
he was in imminent danger of serious physical injury when he filed suit. Jackson
may proceed with his lawsuit in forma pauperis.
VACATED and REMANDED.
2
In his appeal papers, Jackson indicates that he received his surgery after filing his
complaint. What effect this development has on his lawsuit, if any, we save for the district court.
3