Opinion
CV-22-00568-PHX-JAT
04-12-2022
June Johnson, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Secure Ventures LLC, Defendant.
ORDER
James A. Teilburg, Senior United States District Judge.
Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. As a result, they can hear only those cases that the Constitution and Congress have authorized them to adjudicate: namely, cases involving diversity of citizenship, a federal question, or cases to which the United States is a party. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994).
Here, the complaint alleges jurisdiction based on diversity. (Doc. 1 at 5-6). The complaint acknowledges that diversity requires that Plaintiffs and Defendant be citizens of different states. (Doc. 1 at 6). The complaint then alleges that Plaintiffs and Defendant are both citizens of Arizona. (Id.) This is not even a good faith allegation of diversity.
Nonetheless the Court notes that Defendant is a limited liability company. Limited liability companies take on the citizenship of all of their members. Johnson v. Columbia Properties Anchorage, L.P., 437 F.3d 894, 899 (9th Cir. 2006). The Court does not know how Plaintiffs determined that Defendant is a citizen of Arizona. Plaintiffs failed to allege the citizenship of every member of Defendant which is required to plead diversity jurisdiction.
Therefore, the Court will take no further action on this case until Plaintiffs plead federal subject matter jurisdiction. Further, if Plaintiffs fail to plead federal subject matter jurisdiction, this case will be dismissed without prejudice.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that by April 27, 2022, Plaintiffs must file a supplement to the complaint properly pleading federal subject matter jurisdiction. If Plaintiffs fail to file this supplement, or if the supplement fails to plead a basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction, this case will be dismissed without prejudice. The Court will not consider Plaintiffs' application to proceed in forma pauperis until Plaintiffs establish jurisdiction.