Opinion
No. 4:13CV130 SPM
01-22-2013
STATE OF MISSOURI, Plaintiff, v. CLARENCE A. HOLMES, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before me on the notice of removal of this action from the Circuit Court of St. Charles County, Missouri, by MarakaYah Baht Li'EL YesraEL ("MarakaYah"), a non-attorney and self-titled Diplomatic and Consular Representative to the Consulate of the United Nation of Yisrael, which is located in Black Jack, Missouri. MarakaYah purports to remove this criminal action on behalf of Clarence Holmes,1 who has been charged with driving with a revoked or suspended license. See Missouri v. Holmes, 1211-CR06779 (11th Cir.). MarakaYah signed the notice of removal; Holmes did not. None of the state court pleadings have been attached to the notice of removal.
Non-attorneys may not file pleadings on behalf of others in federal court. See 28 U.S.C. § 1654 ("In all courts of the United States the parties may plead and conduct their own cases personally or by counsel . . ."). As a result, the notice of removal was not properly filed, and I will summarily remand it to the Circuit Court for St. Charles County.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this action is REMANDED to the Circuit Court of St. Charles County.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk shall forward a copy of this Order to the Circuit Court of St. Charles County, with reference to Missouri v. Holmes, 1211-CR06779.
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RODNEY W. SIPPEL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE