28 U.S.C. § 1915A

Screening

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(a)Screening.—The court shall review, before docketing, if feasible or, in any event, as soon as practicable after docketing, a complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.(b)Grounds for Dismissal.—On review, the court shall identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of the complaint, if the complaint—(1) is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; or(2) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.(c)Definition.—As used in this section, the term “prisoner” means any person incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program.(Added Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101[(a)] [title VIII, § 805(a)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321, 1321–75; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 41,568 cases (28,576 in the last 5 years), 1996–2026 · leading case: Burroughs v. Mitchell
Burroughs v. Mitchell (2018) nynd · cites it 22× “2 Similarly, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, a court must review any "complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity" and must "identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion…”
Scott Nordstrom v. Charles Ryan (2014) ca9 · cites it 11× “See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. A prison is no ordinary gated community.”
Olivas v. Nevada Ex Rel. Department of Corrections (2017) ca9 · cites it 10× “The district court treated the lawsuit as one brought by a prisoner and thus applied the screening procedures established by § 1915A of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, dismissing the Complaint pursuant to those procedures.”
Green v. Martin (2016) ctd · cites it 14× “This Ruling begins with, and consists principally of, the Court’s sua sponte re *160 view of Green’s pleadings, a review mandated by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 (“PLRA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. I. INITIAL REVIEW OF THE AMENDED COMPLAINT 28 U.”
O'NEAL v. Price (2008) ca9 · cites it 10× “; see also 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. [4] In practice (as occurred in Schelage and CSP ), the district court may style its disposition of complaints dismissed for a reason specified in § 1915A as a denial of a prisoner's application to file the action without prepayment of the filing…”
Michael Hayes v. Idaho Correctional Center (2017) ca9 · cites it 5× “IDAHO CORRECTIONAL CENTER SUMMARY** Prisoner Civil Rights The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s dismissal of a complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, and remanded in an action brought pursuant to 42 U.”
Banks v. Annucci (2014) nynd · cites it 21× “Likewise, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, a court must review any “complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity” and must “identify cognizable claipis or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of…”
Rasheen v. Adner (2019) nynd · cites it 18× “1 Similarly, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, a court must review any "complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity" and must "identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion…”
Jones v. Bock (2007) scotus · cites it 4× “28 U. S. C. § 1915A; 42 U. S. C. § 1997e(a).”
Cesal v. Moats (2017) ca7 · cites it 3× “At the screening phase, see 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the district court identified two claims in Cesal’s pro se complaint: an Eighth Amendment deliberate-indifference claim regarding his back treatment, and a First Amendment retaliation claim related to the withholding of insulin.”
Bingham v. Thomas (2011) ca11 · cites it 6× “§ 1997e(a) and 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights action.”
Miguel Perez v. James Fenoglio (2015) ca7 · cites it 4× “The district court, after denying Perez’s request for pro bono counsel, screened his complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, and dismissed it sua sponte, with prejudice, for failure to state a claim.”
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(1) — 5 cases
High v. Lucas (2020) sdd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(1)(a) — 1 case
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(1)(b) — 1 case
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(A) — 2 cases
Flores v. Murphy (2022) cand
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(B) — 9 cases
Horne v. Chick (2020) flmd
Alston v. Lawson (2024) scd
Alexander v. Castro (2021) txnd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(B)(1) — 6 cases
Nelson v. Salmonsen (2022) mtd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a) — 12876 cases
Scott Nordstrom v. Charles Ryan (2014) ca9 “See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. A prison is no ordinary gated community.”
Jones v. Bock (2007) scotus “28 U. S. C. § 1915A; 42 U. S. C. § 1997e(a).”
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a)(1) — 1 case
Young v. Dotson (2025) vawd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a)(2) — 2 cases
Samuel v. Tullish (2022) mad
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a)(3) — 1 case
McPhee v. Laino (2024) nysd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a)(B)(1) — 1 case
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a)(b) — 3 cases
Washington v. Stormer (2023) ohnd
Williams v. Harcha (2023) ohnd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a)(c) — 1 case
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b) — 11659 cases
Burroughs v. Mitchell (2018) nynd “2 Similarly, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, a court must review any "complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity" and must "identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion…”
Banks v. Annucci (2014) nynd “Likewise, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, a court must review any “complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity” and must “identify cognizable claipis or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of…”
Rasheen v. Adner (2019) nynd “1 Similarly, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, a court must review any "complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity" and must "identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion…”
Burroughs v. Petrone (2015) nynd
Grinter v. Knight (2008) ca6
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1) — 8971 cases
Green v. Martin (2016) ctd “This Ruling begins with, and consists principally of, the Court’s sua sponte re *160 view of Green’s pleadings, a review mandated by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 (“PLRA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. I. INITIAL REVIEW OF THE AMENDED COMPLAINT 28 U.”
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)(2) — 64 cases
Gonzalez v. Laxalt (2019) nvd
Choate v. Weidick (2020) nvd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)(B) — 1 case
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(2) — 304 cases
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(I) — 1 case
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(Z) — 2 cases
Phelps v. Ashcroft (2003) ca4
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(i) — 14 cases
Bradley v. Gray (2003) ca10
Mourning v. Brown (2023) dcd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(ii) — 2 cases
Jackson v. Gill (2004) ca6
Jackson v. Gill (2003) ca6
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(l) — 651 cases
Owens v. Armstrong (2016) njd
Jones v. Bock (2007) scotus “28 U. S. C. § 1915A; 42 U. S. C. § 1997e(a).”
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b6)(1) — 1 case
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(c) — 423 cases
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(e) — 9 cases
Olivas v. Nevada Ex Rel. Department of Corrections (2017) ca9 “The district court treated the lawsuit as one brought by a prisoner and thus applied the screening procedures established by § 1915A of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, dismissing the Complaint pursuant to those procedures.”
Diaz v. Donahue (2025) nywd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(e)(2) — 3 cases
Spearman v. Parson (2020) mied
Farley v. Leeb (1998) ca4
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(e)(2)(B) — 9 cases
Johnson v. Witcher (2023) arwd
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(e)(2)(B)(i) — 1 case
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(e)(2)(B)(ii) — 1 case
— 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(e)(2)(B)(iii) — 1 case
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.