596
Opinion of the Court
stitutional claims. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U. S. 242, 252-255 (1986).
One particular recent action by Congress highlights our concern with judicial rulemaking to protect officials from damages actions. Both Judge Silberman's opinion below and a brief filed in this Court by 34 States, Guam, and the Virgin Islands suggest that new substantive or procedural rules are warranted because of the very large number of civil rights actions filed by prison inmates. See 93 F. 3d, at 830, 838; Brief for State of Missouri et al. as Amici Curiae 12. Arguably, such cases deserve special attention because many of them are plainly frivolous and some may be motivated more by a desire to obtain a "holiday in court," 17 than by a realistic expectation of tangible relief.
Even assuming that a perceived problem with suits by inmates could justify the creation of new rules by federal judges, Congress has already fashioned special rules to cover these cases. The Prison Litigation Reform Act, Pub. L. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321, enacted in April 1996, contains provisions that should discourage prisoners from filing claims that are unlikely to succeed. Among the many new changes relating to civil suits, the statute requires all inmates to pay filing fees; denies in forma pauperis status to prisoners with three or more prior "strikes" (dismissals because a filing is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted) unless the prisoner is "under imminent danger of serious physical injury," § 804(d); bars suits for mental or emotional injury unless there is a prior showing of physical injury; limits attorney's fees; directs district courts to screen prisoners' complaints before docketing and authorizes the court on its own motion to dismiss "frivolous," "malicious," or meritless actions; permits the revocation of good
17 In his dissent in Harris v. Pate, 440 F. 2d 315 (CA7 1971), Judge Hastings wrote in reference to the "ever increasing volume of frivolous civil actions filed by state custodial prisoners" that "[o]f course, most prisoners would enjoy a holiday in court." Id., at 320.
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