Opinion
Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-03840 (UNA)
01-20-2021
AMARE EL BEY, Plaintiff, v. ALPER AKAN, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the court on plaintiff's pro se complaint and application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis ("IFP"). The court will grant plaintiff's IFP application and dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3).
Plaintiff, a resident of the District of Columbia, sues a single individual, Alper Akan, also a resident of the District of Columbia. Plaintiff vaguely alleges that defendant, a real estate developer, "committed fraud, estate embezzlement, trespass, deprivation of rights under color of law, and denationalization, moving an unlawful eviction with no contract with [plaintiff] in fraud." He further alleges that defendant "destroyed" and "gutted out" his real property, though it is unclear where and when these events purportedly transpired.
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. "For jurisdiction to exist under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, there must be complete diversity between the parties, which is to say that the plaintiff may not be a citizen of the same state as any defendant." Bush v. Butler, 521 F. Supp. 2d 63, 71 (D.D.C. 2007) (citing Owen Equip. & Erection Co. v. Kroger, 437 U.S. 365, 373-74 (1978)).
It is a "well-established rule" that the diverse citizenship requirement be "assessed at the time the suit is filed." Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. v. K N Energy, Inc., 498 U.S. 426, 428 (1991). The complaint provides no basis for diversity jurisdiction because plaintiff and defendants are all located in the District. See Morton v. Claytor, 946 F.2d 1565 (D.C. Cir. 1991) (Table) ("Complete diversity of citizenship is required in order for jurisdiction to lie under 28 U.S.C. § 1332."); Bush v. Butler, 521 F. Supp. 2d 63, 71 (D.D.C. 2007) ("For jurisdiction to exist under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, there must be complete diversity between the parties, which is to say that the plaintiff may not be a citizen of the same state as any defendant."). Here, both parties are located in the District, therefore, there is no diversity of citizenship.
The complaint also fails to present any federal question under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. While plaintiff uses phrasing like "deprivation of rights" and makes passing reference to the Constitution, he fails to actually articulate the fundamental "rights" of which he was allegedly deprived. "[F]ederal court jurisdiction must affirmatively appear clearly and distinctly. The mere suggestion of a federal question is not sufficient to establish the jurisdiction of federal courts." Johnson v. Robinson, 576 F.3d 522, 522 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (citing Bilal v. Kaplan, 904 F.2d 14, 15 (8th Cir. 1990) (per curiam)). Consequently, there is also no basis to support federal question jurisdiction and this case will be dismissed. A separate order accompanies this memorandum opinion. Date: January 20, 2021
/s/_________
TANYA S. CHUTKAN
United States District Judge