Chester MARKS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Geri SOLCUM; Terri Solcum, Defendants-Appellees
Opinion
Opinion
On April 26, 1996, the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 (“the Act”), Pub.L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321, was signed into law. A provision of the Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (e)(2) (as amended), applies to prisoner proceedings in forma pauperis and requires us to dismiss an appeal sua sponte at any time if the case is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant immune from such relief. This appeal requires us to determine whether section 1915(e)(2) applies to appeals pending in this court on the date of its enactment. We conclude that it does.
I
On January 9,1996, Arizona state prisoner Chester Marks filed a pro se 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against Pima County Jail Director of Nurses Geri Solcum and Nurse Terri Solcum. Marks alleged that the defendants acted with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs by failing to provide him with his contact lens solution kit for a week. The district court sua sponte dismissed his complaint as frivolous under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (d).
Marks filed his notice of appeal on April 25, 1996, one day before the effective date of the Act. The district court granted him…