Opinion
Civil Action No. 19-169 (UNA)
02-07-2019
John P. Fletcher, Plaintiff, v. Scott Harris, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter, brought pro se, is before the Court on review of the complaint and plaintiff's application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP). The IFP application will be granted and this case will be dismissed for the reasons explained next.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, a district court must immediately dismiss a prisoner's complaint upon determining that it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiff is a Colorado state prisoner who has sued the Clerk of the United States Supreme Court for alleged actions taken in response to his petition for a writ of certiorari. Plaintiff seeks equitable relief and monetary damages. See Compl. at 13.
The Supreme Court "has inherent [and exclusive] supervisory authority over its Clerk." In re Marin, 956 F.2d 339, 340 (D.C. Cir. 1992) (per curiam). Therefore, "a lower court may [not] compel the Clerk of the Supreme Court to take any action." Id.; see Panko v. Rodak, 606 F.2d 168, 171 n.6 (7th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1081 (1980) ("It seems axiomatic that a lower court may not order the judges or officers of a higher court to take an action."). In addition, "the Supreme Court Clerk and Clerk's office staff enjoy absolute immunity from a lawsuit for money damages based upon decisions falling within the scope of their official duties," as is alleged in this case. Miller v. Harris, 599 Fed. App'x 1 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (per curiam) (citing Sindram v. Suda, 986 F.2d 1459 (D.C. Cir. 1993) (per curiam)). Therefore, this case will be dismissed. A separate order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion. Date: February 7, 2019
/s/_________
United States District Judge