Opinion
Case: 1:15-cv-01614
09-30-2015
Terenece J. Barnett, Plaintiff, v. United States of America et al., Defendants.
Assigned To : Howell, Beryl A.
Assign. Date : 10/1/2015
Description: Pro Se Gen. Civil (I Deck)
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on its initial review of plaintiff's pro se complaint and application to proceed in forma pauperis. The application will be granted and the complaint will be dismissed in part pursuant to the screening provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Under that statute, the court is required to dismiss a complaint, or any portion of the complaint, upon determining that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted or seeks monetary relief from an immune defendant. Id. § 1915A(b).
Plaintiff is a federal prisoner who seeks to correct records maintained by the Bureau of Prisons. See Compl. Attachments. In addition, plaintiff seeks money damages for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and other causes based on events that might be separate from his current incarceration. Plaintiff names as one of the defendants Chief Judge Lee Satterfield of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, but the allegations against this defendant are based on decisions Judge Satterfield made in his judicial capacity. See Compl. at 4. Judges are absolutely immune from lawsuits arising from such acts. See Mirales v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9, 11-12 (1991); Thanh Vong Hoai v. Superior Court for District of Columbia, 344 Fed. Appx. 620 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (per curiam); Sindram v. Suda, 986 F.2d 1459, 1460 (D.C. Cir. 1993).
Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that the complaint against Chief Judge Lee Satterfield is DISMISSED with prejudice; it is further
ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall open this matter as brought under the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, and then randomly assign the case to a district judge for further proceedings. A separate order granting plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis will issue contemporaneously. Date: Sep. 30, 2015
/s/_________
United States District Judge