Opinion
Civil Action No. 14-140
01-07-2014
Melvin Brown, Plaintiff, v. Sandra Hill et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on the plaintiff's pro se complaint and application to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court will grant the plaintiff's application and dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
The subject matter jurisdiction of the federal district courts is limited and is set forth generally at 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1332. Under those statutes, federal jurisdiction is available only when a "federal question" is presented or the parties are of diverse citizenship and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. A party seeking relief in the district court must at least plead facts that bring the suit within the court's jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Failure to plead such facts warrants dismissal of the action. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3).
The plaintiff is a District of Columbia resident suing eleven District of Columbia residents for monetary damages exceeding $4.6 million. The complaint does not present a federal question, and it does not provide a basis for diversity jurisdiction because the parties are not of diverse citizenship. Therefore, this case will be dismissed. A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.
Presumably, the plaintiff may seek redress in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
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Umted States District Judge