Denton v. Hernandez

• Decision Date: 04 May 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-1846,90-1846
• Parties: George F. DENTON, Director of Corrections of California, et al., Petitioners, v. Mike HERNANDEZ
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

112 S.Ct. 1728

504 U.S. 25

118 L.Ed.2d 340

George F. DENTON, Director of Corrections of California, et al., Petitioners,

v Mike HERNANDEZ.

No. 90-1846.

Argued Feb. 24, 1992.

Decided May 4, 1992.

Syllabus

Respondent Hernandez, a prisoner proceeding pro se, filed five civil rights suits in forma pauperis against petitioner California prison officials, alleging, inter alia, that he was drugged and homosexually raped 28 times by various inmates and prison officials at different institutions. Finding that the facts alleged appeared to be wholly fanciful, the District Court dismissed the cases under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d), which allows courts to dismiss an in forma pauperis complaint "if satisfied that the action is frivolous." Reviewing the dismissals de novo, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded three of the cases. The court's lead opinion concluded that a court can dismiss a complaint as factually frivolous only if the allegations conflict with judicially noticeable facts and that it was impossible to take judicial notice that none of the alleged rapes occurred; the concurring opinion concluded that circuit precedent required that Hernandez be given notice that his claims were to be dismissed as frivolous and a chance to amend his complaints. The Court of Appeals adhered to these positions on remand from this Court for consideration of the Court's intervening decision in Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 which held that an in forma pauperis complaint "is frivolous [under § 1915(d) ] where it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact," id., at 325, 109 S.Ct., at 1831.

Held:

1. The Court of Appeals incorrectly limited the power granted the courts to dismiss a frivolous case under § 1915(d). Section 1915(d) gives the courts "the unusual power to pierce the veil of the complaint's factual allegations and dismiss those claims whose factual contentions are clearly baseless." Id., at 327, 109 S.Ct., at 1833. Thus, the court is not bound, as it usually is when making a determination based solely on the pleadings, to accept without question the truth of the plaintiff's allegations. However, in order to respect the congressional goal of assuring equality of consideration for all litigants, the initial assessment of the in forma pauperis plaintiff's factual allegations must be weighted in the plaintiff's favor. A factual frivolousness finding is appropriate when the facts alleged rise to the level of the irrational or the wholly incredible whether or not there are judicially noticeable facts available to contradict them, but a complaint cannot be dismissed simply because the court finds the allegations to be improbable or unlikely. The "clearly baseless" guidepost need not be defined with more precision, since the district courts are in the best position to determine which cases fall into this category, and since the statute's instruction allowing dismissal if a court is "satisfied" that the complaint is frivolous indicates that the frivolousness decision is entrusted to the discretion of the court entertaining the complaint. Pp. 31-33.

2. Because the frivolousness determination is a discretionary one, a § 1915(d) dismissal is properly reviewed for an abuse of that discretion. It would be appropriate for a court of appeals to consider, among other things, whether the plaintiff was proceeding pro se, whether the district court inappropriately resolved genuine issues of disputed fact, whether the court applied erroneous legal conclusions, whether the court has provided a statement explaining the dismissal that facilitates intelligent appellate review, and whether the dismissal was with or without prejudice. With respect to the last factor, the reviewing court should determine whether the district court abused its discretion by dismissing the complaint with prejudice or without leave to amend if it appears that the allegations could be remedied through more specific pleading, since dismissal under § 1915(d) could have a res judicata effect on frivolous determinations for future in forma pauperis petitions. This Court expresses no opinion on the Court of Appeals' rule that a pro se litigant bringing suit in forma pauperis is entitled to notice and an opportunity to amend the complaint to overcome any deficiency unless it is clear that no amendment can cure the defect. Pp. 33-35.

929 F.2d 1374 (CA9 1990), reversed and remanded.

O'CONNOR, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which REHNQUIST, C.J., and WHITE, SCALIA, KENNEDY, SOUTER, and THOMAS, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BLACKMUN, J., joined.

James Ching, Sacramento, Cal., for petitioners.

Richard W. Nichols, Sacramento, Cal., for respondent.

Justice O'CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

The federal in forma pauperis statute, codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1915, allows an indigent litigant to commence a civil or criminal action in federal court without paying the administrative costs of proceeding with the lawsuit. The statute protects against abuses of this privilege by allowing a district court to dismiss the case "if the allegation of poverty is untrue, or if satisfied that the action is frivolous or malicious." 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d). In Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989), we considered the standard to be applied when determining whether the legal basis of an in forma pauperis complaint is frivolous under § 1915(d). The issues in this case are the appropriate inquiry for determining when an in forma pauperis litigant's factual allegations justify a § 1915(d) dismissal for frivolousness, and the proper standard of appellate review of such a dismissal.

I

Petitioners are fifteen officials at various institutions in the California penal system. Between 1983 and 1985, respondent Mike Hernandez, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, named petitioners as defendants in five civil rights suits filed in forma pauperis. In relevant part, the complaints in these five suits allege that Hernandez was drugged and homosexually raped a total of 28 times by inmates and prison officials at different institutions.¹ With few exceptions, the alleged perpetrators are not identified in the complaints, because Hernandez does not claim any direct recollection of the incidents. Rather, he asserts that he found needle marks on different parts of his body, and fecal and semen stains on his clothes, which led him to believe that he had been drugged and raped while he slept.

Hernandez's allegations that he was sexually assaulted on the nights of January 13, 1984, and January 27, 1984, are supported by an affidavit signed by fellow prisoner Armando Esquer (Esquer Affidavit), which states:

"On January 13, 1984, at approximately 7:30 a.m., I was

on my way to the shower, when I saw correctional officer McIntyre, the P-2 Unit Officer, unlock inmate Mike Hernandez's cell door and subsequently saw as two black inmates stepped inside his cell. I did not see Officer McIntyre order these two black inmates out of inmate Mike Hernandez's cell after they stepped inside, even though inmate Mike Hernandez was asleep inside. After about ten minutes, I returned from the shower, and I noticed my friend, Mike Hernandez, was being sexually assaulted by the two black inmates. Officer McIn- tyre returned to lock inmate Mike Hernandez's cell door after the two black inmates stepped out. I watch[ed] all this activity from the hallway and my cell door.

"On January 27th, 1984, I was again on my way to the

shower, when I noticed the same correctional officer as he unlocked inmate Mike Hernandez's cell door, and also saw as two black inmates stepped inside inmate Mike Hernandez's cell. Then I knew right away that both they and Officer McIntyre were up to no good. After this last incident, I became convinced that Officer McIntyre was deliberately unlocking my friend, Mike Hernandez's cell as he [lay] asleep, so that these two black inmates could sexually assault him in his cell." Exhibit H in No. CIV S-85-0084, Brief for Respondent 9.

Hernandez also attempted to amend one complaint to include an affidavit signed by fellow inmate Harold Pierce, alleging that on the night of July 29, 1983, he "witnessed inmate Dushane B-71187 and inmate Milliard B-30802 assault and rape inmate Mike Hernandez as he lay . . . asleep in bed 206 in the N-2 Unit Dorm." See Exhibit G to Motion to Amend Complaint in Hernandez v. Denton, et al., No. CIV S-83-1348 (June 19, 1984), Brief for Respondent 6.

The District Court determined that the five cases were related and referred them to a magistrate, who recommended that the complaints be dismissed as frivolous. The magistrate reasoned that "each complaint, taken separately, is not necessarily frivolous," but that "a different picture emerges from a reading of all five complaints together." Id., at 11. As he explained: "[Hernandez] alleges that both guards and inmates, at different institutions, subjected him to sexual assaults. Despite the fact that different defendants are allegedly responsible for each assault, the purported modus operandi is identical in every case. Moreover, the attacks occurred only sporadically throughout a three year period. The facts thus appear to be 'wholly fanciful' and justify this court's dismissal of the actions as frivolous." Ibid. By order dated May 5, 1986, the District Court adopted the recommendation of the magistrate and dismissed the complaints.

Hernandez appealed the dismissal of three of the five cases (Nos. CIV S-83-0645, CIV S-83-1348, CIV S-85-0084; see n. 1, supra ). Reviewing the dismissal de novo, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded. Hernandez v. Denton, 861 F.2d 1421 (1988). In relevant part, Judge Schroeder's lead opinion concluded that a district court could dismiss a complaint as factually frivolous only if the allegations conflicted with judicially noticeable facts, that is, facts " 'capable...