James Cello-Whitney, Jr. v. Gary Fleming

972 F.2d 1337 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. James CELLO-WHITNEY, JR., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Gary FLEMING, et al., Defendants-Appellees. No. 91-36018. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted July 29, 1992. * Decided Aug. 7, 1992. Before TANG, BEEZER and KOZINSKI, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM ** 2 James Cello-Whitney, Jr., a Washington state prisoner, appeals pro se the district court's dismissal of his action under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (d) as malicious. We review for an abuse of discretion, Denton v. Hernandez, 112 S.Ct. 1728, 1734 (1992), and we affirm. 1 3 Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 , an indigent litigant may prosecute a lawsuit without paying filing fees or court costs. 4 As a result, IFP litigants, unlike paying litigants, have little "economic incentive to refrain from filing frivolous, malicious, or repetitive lawsuits." ... To prevent such abusive litigation, section 1915(d) permits federal courts to dismiss IFP claims "if the…