Bonilla v. Johnson

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 STEVEN WAYNE BONILLA, Case Nos. 25-cv-6189-PJH Plaintiff, 25-cv-6267-PJH 8 25-cv-6269-PJH v. 9 25-cv-6276-PJH 10 25-cv-6277-PJH ALAMEDA COUNTY SUPERIOR 25-cv-6278-PJH 11 COURT et. al., 25-cv-6280-PJH Defendants. 12 25-cv-6281-PJH 13 25-cv-6300-PJH 25-cv-6301-PJH 14 25-cv-6302-PJH

15 25-cv-6303-PJH 16 25-cv-6344-PJH 25-cv-6345-PJH 17 25-cv-6346-PJH

18 25-cv-6347-PJH 19 25-cv-6348-PJH 25-cv-6349-PJH 20 25-cv-6350-PJH

21 25-cv-6352-PJH 22 25-cv-6354-PJH 25-cv-6356-PJH 23 25-cv-6357-PJH

24 25-cv-6358-PJH 25 25-cv-6359-PJH 25-cv-6360-PJH 26 25-cv-6371-PJH

27 25-cv-6436-PJH 1 25-cv-6439-PJH 25-cv-6546-PJH 2 25-cv-6575-PJH 3 25-cv-6576-PJH 4 25-cv-6577-PJH 25-cv-6578-PJH 5 25-cv-6579-PJH 6 25-cv-6580-PJH 7 25-cv-6581-PJH 25-cv-6583-PJH 8 25-cv-6584-PJH 9 25-cv-6585-PJH 10 25-cv-6663-PJH 25-cv-6664-PJH 11 25-cv-6665-PJH 12 25-cv-6666-PJH 13 25-cv-6681-PJH 25-cv-6683-PJH 14 25-cv-6684-PJH 15 25-cv-6758-PJH 16 25-cv-6759-PJH 25-cv-6760-PJH 17 25-cv-6761-PJH 18 25-cv-6762-PJH 19 25-cv-6763-PJH 25-cv-6764-PJH 20 25-cv-6765-PJH 21 25-cv-6845-PJH 22 25-cv-6848-PJH 25-cv-6850-PJH 23 25-cv-6851-PJH 24 25-cv-6853-PJH 25 25-cv-6854-PJH 25-cv-6855-PJH 26 25-cv-6893-PJH 27 25-cv-6894-PJH 1 25-cv-6897-PJH 25-cv-6898-PJH 2

3 ORDER DISMISSING MULTIPLE CASES WITH PREJUDICE 4 5

6 7 Plaintiff, a state prisoner, filed multiple pro se civil rights complaints under 42 8 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff is a condemned prisoner who also has a pending federal habeas 9 petition in this court with appointed counsel. See Bonilla v. Ayers, Case No. 08-0471 10 YGR. Plaintiff is also represented by counsel in state court habeas proceedings. See In 11 re Bonilla, Case No. 20-2986 PJH, Docket No. 1 at 7. 12 Plaintiff presents nearly identical claims in these actions. He names as 13 defendants various federal judges, state judges, and state courts. He seeks relief 14 regarding his underlying conviction or how his other cases were handled by the state and 15 federal courts. 16 To the extent that plaintiff seeks to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) in these cases, 17 he has been disqualified from proceeding IFP under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) unless he is 18 “under imminent danger of serious physical injury” at the time he filed his complaint. 28 19 U.S.C. 1915(g); In re Steven Bonilla, Case No. 11-3180 CW; Bonilla v. Dawson, Case 20 No. 13-0951 CW. 21 The allegations in these complaints do not show that plaintiff was in imminent 22 danger at the time of filing. Therefore, he may not proceed IFP. Moreover, even if an 23 IFP application were granted, his lawsuits would be barred under Heck v. Humphrey, 512 24 U.S. 477, 486-87 (1994), Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 43-54 (1971), Demos v. U.S. 25 District Court, 925 F.2d 1160, 1161-62 (9th Cir. 1991) or Mullis v. U.S. Bankruptcy Court, 26 828 F.2d 1385, 1393 (9th Cir. 1987). Accordingly, the cases are dismissed with 27 prejudice. The court notes that plaintiff has an extensive history of filing similar frivolous 1 cases.1 2 Furthermore, these are not cases in which the undersigned judge’s impartiality 3 might be reasonably questioned due to the repetitive and frivolous nature of the filings. 4 See United States v. Holland, 519 F.3d 909, 912 (9th Cir. 2008) (absent legitimate 5 reasons to recuse himself or herself, a judge has a duty to sit in judgment in all cases 6 assigned to that judge). 2 7 The clerk shall terminate all pending motions and close these cases. The clerk 8 shall return, without filing, any further documents plaintiff submits in these closed cases. 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 Dated: August 20, 2025 11 12 /s/ Phyllis J. Hamilton PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON 13 United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 1 The undersigned is the fourth judge assigned cases filed by plaintiff. This is the 78th order issued by the undersigned since April 30, 2020, pertaining to 1,230 different cases. 26 Plaintiff filed 962 other cases with the three other judges since 2011. 2 Plaintiff names the undersigned as a defendant in four of these cases, though presents 27 no specific allegations. See Case Nos. 25-6281, 25-6546, 25-6681, 25-6763. Plaintiff