Washington, D.C. inmate Francis Emmanuel Perez Mateo feared for his life, for good reason. Jailers, against his pleas, had placed him in the same cell with a man who had once tried to kill him.

That was Sept. 19, 2008. Now, put yourself in Mr. Mateo's shoes, as he explains in his pro se filing:

"Plaintiff was scare thinking that (the other man) was going to kill me. Plaintiff could not sleep. Anxiety, cold and sweat were taking over, thinking that the person who tried to kill me (in 2004) is now in the same cell with me."

For the next two nights, it was the same waking nightmare. Would he live or would he die? Mateo survived the jail cell, but says that ever since has suffered from migraine headaches, dizziness and general emotional distress. So he sues the jailers, seeking $5 million.

On Thursday, Mateo lost. It's simple, U.S. District Judge John Bates reasoned in his brief opinion. Turns out, the Prison Litigation Reform Act -- passed to restrict the number of prisoner lawsuits -- block suits bases purely on emotional distress grounds with no prior showing of physical injury.

And just for good riddance, Mateo's lawsuit counts as a "strike" under the PLRA.