Oliver v. Edmound

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA ROANOKE DIVISION

DAN OLIVER, ) ) Plaintiff, ) Civil Action No. 7:24cv00074 ) v. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION ) WARDEN EDMOUND, et al., ) By: Hon. Thomas T. Cullen ) United States District Judge Defendants. ) ________________________________________________________________________

Plaintiff Dan Oliver, a Virginia prisoner proceeding pro se, filed this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 but did not pay the filing fee. At least three of Oliver’s previous actions have been dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.1 Therefore, Oliver may not proceed with this action unless he either prepays the filing fee or shows that he is “under imminent danger of serious physical injury.”2 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Because Oliver has neither prepaid the filing fee nor demonstrated that he is “under imminent danger of serious physical injury,”3 the court will dismiss his complaint without prejudice under § 1915(g).

1 See e.g., Oliver v. Braxton, No. 1:01cv121 (E.D. Va. Mar. 30, 2001) (dismissed for failure to state a claim); Oliver v. Taylor, No.1:01cv221 (E.D. Va. Mar. 30, 2001) (dismissed for failure to state a claim); Oliver v. Braxton, No.1:01cv568 (E.D. Va. May 16, 2001) (dismissed for failure to state a claim). See also Oliver v. Osborne, 75 F. App’x 209 (4th Cir. 2003) (affirming dismissal under § 1915(g)).

2 The court notes that Oliver has been advised of his three-striker status on multiple occasions by this court. See e.g., Oliver v. Osborne, No. 7:03cv683 (W.D. Va. Oct. 22, 2003); Oliver v. Young, No. 7:18cv525 (W.D. Va. Oct. 30, 2018); and Oliver v. Unknown, No. 7:19cv56 (W.D. Va. Jan. 29, 2019).

3 Oliver alleges that the defendant jail officials are depriving him of $502 million that they owe him for nine books he has written since 2017. He needs the money so that he can “write such book[]s as poems of wisdom []and[] unbelievably crazy joke[]s and other NEW up-coming book[]s, like a creative letter book[] for writing interesting letter[]s.” (Compl. at 2 [ECF No. 1].) As relief, Oliver asks the court to order the defendants to pay him $502 million. Oliver’s allegations do not suggest that he is under imminent danger of serious physical injury. The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Memorandum Opinion and the accompanying Order to Oliver. ENTERED this 31st day of January, 2024.

/s/ Thomas T. Cullen________________ HON. THOMAS T. CULLEN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

See Springer v. Day, No. 7:16cv261, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76270, at *3, 2016 WL 3248601, at *1 (W.D. Va. June 13, 2016) (quoting Lewis v. Sullivan, 279 F.3d 526, 531 (7th Cir. 2002)) (“Courts have held that the imminent danger exception to § 1915(g)’s ‘three strikes’ rule must be construed narrowly and applied only for ‘genuine emergencies,’ where ‘time is pressing’ and ‘a threat . . . is real and proximate’ to the alleged official misconduct.”) - 2 -