Opinion
Case: 1:15-cv-01187
07-21-2015
WILLIAM L. DEUERLEIN, Plaintiff, v. STATE OF NEBRASKA, et al., Defendants.
Jury Demand
Assigned To : Unassigned
Assign. Date : 7/22/2015
Description: Pro Se Gen. Civil (F Deck)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis and his pro se complaint. The Court will grant the application and dismiss the complaint.
Under the doctrine of res judicata, a prior judgment on the merits of a claim bars a plaintiff from relitigating the same claim. See I.A.M. Nat'l Pension Fund v. Indus. Gear Mfg. Co., 723 F.2d 944, 949 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (noting that res judicata "forecloses all that which might have been litigated previously"). "[W]here res judicata applies, it bars relitigation not only as all matters which were determined in the previous litigation, but also as to all matters that might have been determined." Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc. v. Thomas, 838 F.2d 1224, 1252 (D Cir. 1988) (citation omitted); see Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 94 (1980). In evaluating cause of action for res judicata purposes, it is the factual nucleus that gives rise to a plaintiff's claim, not the legal theory on which the claim rests, that determines whether the claim proceed. Page v. United States, 729 F.2d 818, 820 (D.C. Cir. 1984).
Generally, the plaintiff alleges violations of constitutionally protected rights by the State of Nebraska and those involved in proceedings which ultimately resulted in the termination of plaintiff's parental rights. Because the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska has considered and ruled upon these same claims in a prior civil action, see Deuerlein v. Nebraska, No. 8:15CV14, 2015 WL 1608687 (D. Neb. Apr. 10, 2015), this Court concludes that the plaintiff's claims are barred under the doctrine of res judicata. Therefore, the complaint will be dismissed. An Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion. DATE: 7/21/2015
/s/_________
United States District Judge