Waseem Daker, a Georgia prisoner who had filed numerous pro se actions and appeals, challenged the dismissal of his civil complaint and the denial of permission to proceed in forma pauperis. The district court counted prior dismissals as “strikes” under the Prison Litigation Reform Act and concluded that Daker had exceeded the statutory limit. The Eleventh Circuit treated the meaning of a dismissal “on the grounds that it is frivolous” as a question of first impression. It held that a court cannot count a prior action or appeal as frivolous based on a later judicial assessment; the dismissal record must show that frivolousness was the stated ground. The court also held that a single circuit judge could not dismiss an appeal for purposes of the statutory strike calculation when the governing appellate procedure required panel action. Because the district court had not considered Daker’s objections concerning indigence, the court vacated the dismissal and remanded for further proceedings without deciding whether he was indigent.