Greenlee v. United States Postal Service

351 F. App'x 263
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedOctober 19, 2009
Docket08-3330
StatusUnpublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 351 F. App'x 263 (Greenlee v. United States Postal Service) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Greenlee v. United States Postal Service, 351 F. App'x 263 (10th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

TIMOTHY M. TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge.

Richard Greenlee appeals pro se the district court’s dismissal of his complaint against the United States Postal Service (USPS), his former employer. He has filed an application under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 to proceed in forma pauperis (ifp) in this appeal. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we deny his application to proceed ifp and dismiss his appeal as frivolous. We also impose appellate filing restrictions on Mr. Greenlee.

Background

The district court imposed filing restrictions on Mr. Greenlee in 2007, stating that “[b]ecause plaintiff has disregarded prior warnings and continues to pursue claims against [USPS] that have been dismissed and described as ‘delusional,’ filing restrictions are appropriate.” Greenlee v. U.S. Postal Serv., No. 06-2167-CM, 2007 WL 141016, at *6 (D.Kan. Jan. 17, 2007) (unpublished). The court restricted Mr. Greenlee from filing future complaints against USPS as follows:

Plaintiff is prohibited from filing another case in this district against this defendant, unless he is represented by counsel or, if he proceeds pro se unless he provides a notarized affidavit that verifies with particularity that the new action is commenced on grounds that are distinguishable from those previously dismissed. Any proposed complaint against defendant must list all previous actions against defendant and provide notice of this filing restriction. Upon compliance with these requirements, the court will review the complaint and determine whether it should be accepted for filing.

Id. This court concluded on appeal that “given the frequency, redundancy, heft, *265 and sheer implausibility of Greenlee’s complaints, these modest restrictions are more than appropriate to protect the limited resources of the district court as well as our own.” Greenlee v. U.S. Postal Serv., 247 Fed.Appx. 953, 954 n. 3 (10th Cir.2007). Mr. Greenlee filed a new complaint against USPS in October 2008. The district comb examined the complaint, found that it failed to comply with the filing restrictions, and dismissed it sua sponte without prejudice. Mr. Greenlee appeals that ruling.

Denial of Leave to Proceed IFP on Appeal and Dismissal of Appeal as Frivolous

We have authority to deny an ifp application and dismiss a frivolous appeal, without reaching the merits, when the appellant seeks to proceed ifp. See Hunt v. Downing, 112 F.3d 452, 453 (10th Cir. 1997). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i), a “court shall dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that ... the action or appeal ... is frivolous.” “An appeal is frivolous when the result is obvious, or the appellant’s arguments of error are wholly without merit.” Olson v. Coleman, 997 F.2d 726, 728 (10th Cir.1993) (quotations omitted); see also Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989) (“[A]n appeal on a matter of law is frivolous where none of the legal points are arguable on their merits.” (quotation and brackets omitted)).

We liberally construe a pro se appellant’s appeal briefs. Garrett v. Selby Connor Maddux & Janer, 425 F.3d 836, 840 (10th Cir.2005). In his 34-page appeal brief, Mr. Greenlee appears to make two references to the district court’s filing restrictions. But even affording him a liberal construction, we conclude that he presents no argument of error in the district court’s conclusion that he failed to comply with the restrictions in filing his October 2008 complaint. Nor can we identify any non-frivolous argument in favor of reversing that decision. Therefore, we deny Mr. Greenlee’s application to proceed ifp and dismiss his appeal. See Hunt, 112 F.3d at 453 (10th Cir.1997).

Appellate Filing Restrictions

Mr. Greenlee is a frequent filer in this court, as well as in the district court. Before his October 2008 complaint, he had filed five other pro se complaints against USPS. See Greenlee, 247 Fed.Appx. at 953-54. Mr. Greenlee appealed the district court’s dismissal of each of those complaints. This court either affirmed the dismissals, see id. at 953-54 & n. 1, or affirmed the district court’s denial of his motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b), see Greenlee v. U.S. Postal Serv., 83 Fed. Appx. 308, 308-09 (10th Cir.2003). This is the seventh appeal Mr. Greenlee has filed with this court. 1

We conclude that Mr. Greenlee’s previous appellate filings warrant imposing limited restrictions upon him with respect to further pro se filings with this court.

Federal courts have the inherent power to regulate the activities of abusive litigants by imposing carefully tailored restrictions in appropriate circumstances. An injunction limiting further filings may be imposed where the litigant’s lengthy and abusive history is set forth; *266 the court provides guidelines as to what the litigant may do to obtain its permission to file an action; and the litigant receives notice and an opportunity to oppose the court’s order before it is implemented.

Ford v. Pryor, 552 F.3d 1174, 1180 (10th Cir.2008) (citation and quotations omitted) (imposing filing restrictions after plaintiff raised frivolous and repetitive claims in four appeals). “[A] distinction has been made between indiscriminate filers and those who have limited their repetitive filings to a particular subject. Under [the latter] circumstances, the filing restrictions have been limited to the subject matter of the previous lawsuits.” Id. at 1181 (citation omitted).

The district court restricted Mr. Green-lee’s future filings only as to claims against USPS. We conclude that appellate filing restrictions of that limited scope are also appropriate. Therefore, in order to proceed pro se in this court in any appeal or original proceeding filed against USPS, Mr. Greenlee must provide the court with:

1. A list of all appeals or original proceedings filed against USPS, whether currently pending or previously filed with this court, including the name, number, and citation, if applicable, of each case, and the current status or disposition of each appeal or original proceeding; and

2.

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351 F. App'x 263, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greenlee-v-united-states-postal-service-ca10-2009.