We have the first opinion, and it is Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez.
It is by Justice Kagan, and it is unanimous.
Justice Thomas is the only justice who does not join the entire opinion; he joins all but footnote 4.
The decision of the Tenth Circuit is affirmed.
And we have the R number, so it seems we won't need a 10-minute interval today.
This is a case about the "three-strikes" rule of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which usually bars prisoners from bringing lawsuits without paying the filing fee if they had three or more prior suits dismissed as frivolous or for failure to state a claim.
The question before the Court was whether a suit dismissed for failure to state a claim counts as a strike when the dismissal was without prejudice. The Court holds that it does.
"The text of Section 1915(g)'s three-strikes provision refers to any dismissal for failure to state a claim, whether with prejudice or without."
Justice Thomas does not join footnote 4, which says that the provision "does not apply when a court gives a plaintiff leave to amend his complaint."
The decision is just seven pages.
Mark or Kal, can you explain the R number, please? Or paste from last week's discussion? I will also update our FAQs, which is something I normally do around this time of year, to include a discussion of R numbers. Minutiae R Us here at SCOTUSblog.
And don't get me wrong, I love the minutiae.
By the way, as a reporter I just want to give a shout-out to the first paragraph of Justice Kagan's opinion today, which has all of the information I need at the outset: Here's a sentence or two of background, here's the question before the Court, and (most importantly) here is the answer.
That's about it for me today. We have no official word on opinions next week, but I would expect to be back here again next week at 9:25 Eastern for orders and then opinions. Thanks so much for joining us. Take care, everyone, and stay well.
I am also going to sign off. I will take a 10-minute interval before I do any other work, though. Thanks everyone!
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