Opinion
Case: 1:17-cv-00342
02-22-2017
Jose Apollo, Sr., Plaintiff, v. Michael K. O'Keefe, Defendant.
(F-Deck)
Assigned To : Unassigned
Assign. Date : 2/27/2017
Description: Pro Se Gen. Civil Jury Demand
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, has submitted a complaint and an application to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court will grant the application and dismiss the case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2), which requires dismissal of a case "at any time" the court determines that the complaint seeks monetary relief against an immune defendant.
Plaintiff is a resident of Washington, D.C. He sues a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for alleged decisions he made as "the original trial judge assigned" presumably to plaintiff's civil action. Compl. at 3. As relief, plaintiff seeks "to cure the Judicial Negligence, the invasion of privacy, the co-orchestrator of the Massive conspiracy that perpetrated the fraud upon the court, the highly prejudicial numerous instances of Gross Deprivation of Due Process of the Law," as well as $400 billion in monetary damages. Id. at 15.
"Judges enjoy absolute judicial immunity from suits for money damages for all actions taken in [their] judicial capacity, unless [the] actions are taken in the complete absence of all jurisdiction." Sindram v. Suda, 986 F.2d 1459, 1460 (D.C. Cir. 1993) (per curiam) (citation omitted). Such "immunity is an immunity from suit, not just from ultimate assessment of damages." Mireles v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9, 11 (1991).
Plaintiff takes issue with Judge O'Keefe's alleged statements made and actions taken from the bench, but such conduct falls squarely within the judicial functions over which the respective court appears to have had jurisdiction. Therefore, defendant is absolutely immune from this lawsuit. A separate order of dismissal accompanies this Memorandum Opinion. Date: February 22, 2017
/s/_________
United States District Judge