Case Explained: Summary Calendar Joseph Anthony Reyna Plaintiff— v. Jane Nelson

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-01 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Joseph Anthony Reyna’s lawsuit challenging Texas’s ballot-qualification system under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Equal Protection Clause, as well as the imposition of a pre-filing bar against him. The court held that Reyna lacked Article III standing because he failed to allege any concrete intent to initiate a political campaign, relying instead on vague assertions regarding barriers faced by Hispanic and Native American Texans; under *Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife*, such “some day” intentions without concrete plans do not establish imminent injury. Regarding the pre-filing bar, the court applied the four-factor test from *Baum v. Blue Moon Ventures, LLC* to review the district court for an abuse of discretion, concluding that Reyna’s history of filing 13 suits since June 2025—three dismissed as frivolous and six recommended for dismissal—along with repeated warnings against such conduct, justified the sanction to prevent the waste of judicial resources. As a result, the underlying claims are dismissed without prejudice to standing, and Reyna is prohibited from filing future lawsuits in the district court without prior judicial approval. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.