Opinion
Case No. 14-mc-00071-LTB
04-22-2014
CHAD ANGLE, Petitioner, v. DAVID ZUPAN, et al., Respondents.
ORDER OF DISMISSAL
Petitioner, Chad Angle, a prisoner in the custody of the Colorado Department of Corrections, has submitted to the Court a Motion to Direct Magistrate Judge to Submit Charges, ECF No.1. For the reasons stated below, the Court will dismiss the action.
Courts universally endorse the principle that private citizens cannot prosecute criminal actions. See, e.g., Cok v. Cosentino, 876 F.2d 1, 2 (1st Cir.1989) (per curiam); Connecticut Action Now, Inc. v. Roberts Plating Co., 457 F.2d 81, 86-87 (2d Cir.1972) ("It is a truism, and has been for many decades, that in our federal system crimes are always prosecuted by the Federal Government, not as has sometimes been done in Anglo-American jurisdictions by private complaints."); Winslow v. Romer, 759 F. Supp. 670, 673 (D. Colo.1991) ("Private citizens generally have no standing to institute federal criminal proceedings."). Therefore, the Court finds that Petitioner lacks standing to invoke the authority of United States attorneys to prosecute for offenses against Respondents.
If Petitioner wishes only to correspond with the United States Attorney, he should not submit requests to the Court. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that the action is dismissed because Petitioner lacks standing to file and prosecute a criminal action.
DATED at Denver, Colorado, this 22nd day of April, 2014.
BY THE COURT:
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LEWIS T. BABCOCK, Senior Judge
United States District Judge