Three Strikes and You're Out of Constitutional Rights? The Prison Litigation Reform Act's "Three Strikes" Provision and Its Effect on Indigents

• NCJ Number: 183104
• Journal: University of Colorado Law Review Volume: 71 Issue: 1 Dated: 2000 Pages: 191-220
• Author(s): Joshua D. Franklin
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 30 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This Comment argues that the so-called “three strikes” provision (section 1915(g)) of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) is constitutionally suspect in that it violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

Abstract

The Comment examines the Supreme Court’s “access to the courts” jurisprudence as developed by five specific cases. The cases unequivocally establish the right of access to the courts where a fundamental interest is at stake, and lend considerable support to the argument for invalidating section 1915(g) of the PLRA. The Comment argues that section 1915(g) is over inclusive, as it strikes down claims affecting prisoners’ fundamental interests without any inquiry into their merit, and attempts to curb frivolous lawsuits by unjustifiably targeting only indigent prisoners. Further, it claims that other provisions within the PLRA itself offer examples of less-far-reaching means of deterring frivolous prisoner litigation. The Comment also discusses recent Federal decisions addressing the constitutionality of section 1915(g). Notes